Bishop                           :  Most Rev. James Romen Boiragi, DD

Date of Birth and Place          : 3 May 1955

Holdibunia, Shelabunia

Ordained Priest                       : 13 January, 1985

Elected Bishop of Khulna      : 4 May 2012

Consecrated Bishop                :15 June 2012 (Khulna)

Residence                    :           Bishop’s House

:           Sonadanga Main Road, Khulna-9000

Tel.                              :           (00 88 041) 730569

Fax                              :           (00 88 041) 813878

Mob.                            :           (00 88)01711880230

BISHOP                                 :           Most Rev. Sebastian Tudu, D.D.

Date and Place of Birth          :           17 June 1967

Satana-Gobindaganj

Ordained Priest                       :           30 December 1999

Elected Bishop                        :           29 October 2011

Consecrated Bishop                :           27 January 2012

Address                                   :           Bishop’s House

Kosba, P.O. Box 5, Dinajpur-5200

Phone No.                               :           (88-0531) 65669, 65810

E-mail ID                                :           bpsebastiantudu@gmail.com

Patron of the Diocese             :           St. Francis Xavier

Total Area                               :           16,329.62 Sq. Km.

The Diocese of Dinajpur has under its jurisdiction the Civil Districts of Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagar, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Upazila Panchabibi of Joypurhat District.

Total Population                      :           18,069,519

Catholics                                 :           59,852

Languages spoken                   : Bengali, Santali, Oraon (Kuruk and Sadri), Mahali, Mundari, Malo, Mal Pahari.

BISHOP                                 :           Most Rev. Gervas Rozario, STD, DD

Date of Birth and Place          :           15 August 1951

Satiangasa, P.O. Haroa Bonpara

Dist. Natore- 6430, Bangladesh

Ordination to Priesthood        :           31 December 1980

Elected Bishop of Rajsahi      :           1 January 2007

Announcement of Election     :           15 January 2007

Consecrated Bishop                :           22 March 2007

Erection of Diocese                :           21 May 1990

Postal Address                        :           Bishop’s House

P.O. Box – 40

Rajshahi – 6000, Bangladesh

Residence                                :           Bishop’s House

Omorpur, Airport Road,

P.O. Sopura

Rajshahi-6203, Bangladesh

Tel.                                          :           (00 88 0721) 761533 / 760465

Mobile                                     :           (00 88) 0171-274155

Fax                                          :           +880721861647

E-Mails                                    :           diocraj1990@gmail.com

bpgervas@gmail.com

Patron of the Diocese             :           Christ the Redeemer

Archbishop                  :          Most Rev. Bejoy N. D’Curze, OMI

Date of Birth and Place:         09 February 1956

Vill. & P.O.                 :           Puran Tutial, Daudpur

Dist.                            :           Dhaka-1322

Ordained Priest           :           20 February 1987

Elected Bishop of Khulna    :           19 February 2005

Consecrated Bishop of Khulna         :           06 May 2005

Appointed as Bishop of Sylhet   :           08 July 2011

Installation as Bishop of Sylhet :           30 September 2011

Archbishop Elect of Dhaka :                  30 September 2020

Installation as Archbishop of Dhaka :           27 November 2020

Residence                                :           Archbishop’s House

1 Kakrail Road

P.O. Box-3, Dhaka-1000

Bangladesh.

Tel.                                          :           (00 88 02) 9358247

Mobile                                     :           (00 88) 01715145571

E-mail                                      :           bpcruze@gmail.com

Patroness                                 :           Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Total Area                               :           12,578 sq. km.

Most Rev. Lawrence Subrato Howlader, CSC

Date of Birth and Place          :           11 September 1965

Nobogram, Goalpukurpar,

Barishal

Ordained Priest                       :           31 December 1994

Elected Auxiliary

Bishop of Chattogram            :           7 May 2009

Consecrated Auxiliary

Bishop of Chattogram                         :           3 July 2009

Elected Bishop of Barishal       :           29 December, 2015

Installation Bishop of Barishal :           29 January, 2016

Residence                                :           Bishop’s House,

05, Sadar Road,

Barishal-8200

Tel.                                          :           (00 88) 0431- 2173576

E-mail                                      :           secretarybsldio@gmail.com

Address of the Curia              :           Bishop’s House,

05, Sadar Road,

Barishal-8200

Tel.                                          :           +88-0431-2173576

E-mail                                      :           secretarybsldio@gmail.com

Web-page                                :           http://www.barisaldiocese.org

Patroness of the Diocese         :           St. Peter the Apostle

Total Area of the Diocese       :           20,708 Sq. Km.

The Diocese of Barishal comprises of the 11 Civil Districts of Barishal, Barguna, Bhola, Jhalokathi, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Faridpur and Rajbari.

Total Population                      :           14,352,716

Catholic Population                :           16,023

Language Spoken                   :           Bangla, English and Rakhine Tribal Languages.

The Vatican City State is an independent city-state located within Rome in Italy. The Vatican is governed by the Holy See, and is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope.

It is the smallest state in the world. It became independent from Italy with the Lateran Treaty. One of the most important sources of money for the Vatican’s economy is tourism. The Vatican Museums and the St. Peter’s Basilica are extremely popular tourist attractions. The Vatican Museums alone attracted 4.3 million people in 2007.

The pope (Latin: papa, from Greek: πάππας, romanized: pappas, ‘father’), also known as supreme pontiff (pontifex maximus or summus pontifex), Roman pontiff (Romanus pontifex) or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Catholic Church, and also serves as head of state or sovereign of the Vatican City State since the eighth century. From a Catholic viewpoint, the primacy of the bishop of Rome is largely derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus, who gave Peter the Keys of Heaven and the powers of “binding and loosing”, naming him as the “rock” upon which the Church would be built. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013.

While his office is called the papacy, the jurisdiction of the episcopal see is called the Holy See. It is the Holy See that is the sovereign entity by international law headquartered in the distinctively independent Vatican City State, a city-state which forms a geographical enclave within the connurbation of Rome, established by the Lateran Treaty in 1929 between Italy and the Holy See to ensure its temporal and spiritual independence. The Holy See is recognized by its adherence at various levels to international organization and by means of its diplomatic relations and political accords with many independent states.

According to Catholic tradition, the apostolic see of Rome was founded by Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the first century. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history.In ancient times the popes helped spread Christianity, and intervened to find resolutions in various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of secular importance in Western Europe, often acting as arbitrators between Christian monarchs. In addition to the expansion of Christian faith and doctrine, modern popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, and the defense of human rights.

Over time the papacy accrued broad secular and political influence, ultimately rivaling those of territorial rulers. In recent centuries the temporal authority of the papacy has declined and the office is now largely focused on religious matters. By contrast, papal claims of spiritual authority have been increasingly firmly expressed over time, culminating in 1870 with the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility for rare occasions when the pope speaks ex cathedra—literally “from the chair (of Saint Peter)”—to issue a formal definition of faith or morals. The pope is considered one of the world’s most powerful people due to the extensive diplomatic, cultural, and spiritual influence of his position on both 1.3 billion Catholics and those outside the Catholic faith, and because he heads the world’s largest non-government provider of education and health care,with a vast network of charities.

The Vatican’s history as the seat of the Catholic Church began with the construction of a basilica over St. Peter’s grave in Rome in the 4th century A.D. The area developed into a popular pilgrimage site and commercial district, although it was abandoned following the move of the papal court to France in 1309. After the Church returned in 1377, famous landmarks such the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel and the new St. Peter’s Basilica were erected within the city limits. Vatican City was established in its current form as a sovereign nation with the signing of the Lateran Pacts in 1929.

The area off the west bank of the Tiber River that comprises the Vatican was once a marshy region known as Ager Vaticanus. During the early years of the Roman Empire, it became an administrative region populated by expensive villas, as well as a circus built in the gardens of Emperor Caligula’s mother. After much of Rome was leveled in a fire in A.D. 64, Emperor Nero executed St. Peter and other Christian scapegoats at the base of Vatican Hill, where they were buried in a necropolis.

Having embraced Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313, Emperor Constantine I began constructing a basilica over St. Peter’s tomb in 324. St. Peter’s Basilica became a spiritual center for Christian pilgrims, leading to the development of housing for clergymen and the formation of a marketplace that became the thriving commercial district of Borgo.

Following an attack by Saracen pirates that damaged St. Peter’s in 846, Pope Leo IV ordered the construction of a wall to protect the holy basilica and its associated precincts. Completed in 852, the 39-foot-tall wall enclosed what was inaugurated Leonine City, an area covering the current Vatican territory and the Borgo district. The walls were continually expanded and modified until the reign of Pope Urban VIII in the 1640s.

Although the pontiff traditionally lived at the nearby Lateran Palace, Pope Symmachus built a residence adjacent to St. Peter’s in the early 6th century. It was expanded hundreds of years later by both Eugene III and Innocent III, and in 1277 a half-mile-long covered passageway was assembled to link the structure to Castel Sant’Angelo. However, the buildings were all abandoned with the shift of the papal court to Avignon, France, in 1309, and over the next half-century the city fell into disrepair.