Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shillong

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Metropolitan Archdiocese of Shillong Archidioecesis Shillongensis शिलांग के सूबा
Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians
Location
Country	India
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Shillong
Statistics
Area	5,196 km2 (2,006 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2018) 1,155,000 320,063 (26.7%)
Information
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians in Shillong
Secular priests	172
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Victor Lyngdoh
Website
shillongarchdiocese.org

Statue of Mary Help of Christians on the facade of the cathedral

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Shillong (Latin: Shillongensis) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in the state of Meghalaya, in northeastern India. The Archdiocese of Shillong is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Shillong, an ecclesiastical province in Northeast India. It serves 320,063 followers in 35 parishes in the districts of East Khasi Hills and Ri Bhoi of Meghalaya.

History[]

• Established on 15 December 1889 as the Apostolic Prefecture of Assam on territory split off from the Diocese of Krishnagar
• 9 July 1934: Promoted as Diocese of Shillong
• Lost territory on 12 July 1951 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dibrugarh
• Lost territory again on 16 January 1964 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tezpur
• 26 June 1969: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Gauhati–Shillong
• 22 January 1970: Renamed as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Shillong–Gauhati
• Lost territory to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tura on 1973.03.01 and again on 1983.12.05 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Diphu
• 30 March 1992: Renamed as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Shillong
• Lost territory on 28 January 2006 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nongstoin and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jowai

Cathedrals[]

The cathedral of the Archdiocese is the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, in Shillong. It was built over 50 years ago. This place of worship stands on the very site of the first Church built by the German fathers (Salvatorians from Germany).

The earlier 1913 building – the Church of the Divine Saviour – was a wooden structure. It was destroyed in the Good Friday fire of 10 April 1936. Built by the first Catholic missionaries to set foot on these hills, the Salvatorians from Germany, it was the first Catholic Cathedral in what was then the Mission of Assam.

Ordinaries[]

Apostolic Prefects of Assam

• Fr. Otto Hopfenmüller, Salvatorians (S.D.S.) (1890)
• Fr. , (S.D.S.) (1890 - 1906)
• Fr. , (S.D.S.) (1906 – 1921)
• Fr. Louis Mathias, S.D.B. (December 15, 1922 – July 9, 1934 see below)

Bishops of Shillong

• Louis Mathias, S.D.B. (see above 9 July 1934 – 25 March 1935), later Metropolitan Archbishop of Madras (India) (1935.03.25 – 1952.11.13) and Metropolitan Archbishop of (renamed) Madras and Mylapore(India) (1952.11.13 – 1965.08.02)
• Stephen Ferrando, S.D.B. (26 November 1935 – 26 June 1969); previously Bishop of Krishnagar (India) (1934.07.09 – 1935.11.26), later Titular Archbishop of Troina (1969.06.26 – 1978.06.21)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Gauhati–Shillong

• , S.D.B. (1969.06.26 – 1970.01.22 see below), previously Bishop of Dibrugarh (India) (1964.07.06 – 1969.06.26)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Shillong – Gauhati

• Hubert D’Rosario, S.D.B. (as above 26 June 1969 – 30 March 1992 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Shillong

• , S.D.B. (as above 30 March 1992 – 30 August 1994)
• , S.D.B. (2 August 1995 – 5 May 1999), previously Titular Bishop of Corniculana & Auxiliary Bishop of Shillong (India) (1990.06.11 – 1995.08.02)
• Dominic Jala, S.D.B. (22 December 1999 – 10 October 2019)
• Victor Lyngdoh (28 December 2020 – Present)

Ecclesiastical Province of Shillong[]

The Province of Shillong comprises the following suffragan dioceses that has Shillong as its metropolitan see:

• Agartala
• Aizawl
• Jowai
• Nongstoin
• Tura

Saints and causes for canonisation[]

• Ven. Stephen Ferrando^[1]
• Servant of God Constantine Vendrame, SDB^[1]
• Lorenz Hopfenmuller (Otto)^[2]

References[]

Sources and external links[]

Wikisource has the text of a 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article about Apostolic Prefecture of Assam.

• GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links ^{[self-published]}
• Catholic Hierarchy ^{[self-published]}
• Archdiocese website

Coordinates: 25°34′N 91°53′E / 25.567°N 91.883°E / 25.567; 91.883