Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bengaluru

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bangalore (Latin: Archidioecesis Bangalorensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in India. It was erected as pro-vicariate from (16 March 1845 to 2 April 1850), as Vicariate from (3 April 1850 – 31 August 1886), as Diocese of Mysore – Bangalore in the Ecclesiastical Metropolitan Province of Pondicherry in Southern India from (1 September 1886 – 12 February 1940), as Diocese of Bangalore on 13 February 1940 by Pope Pius XII, and elevated to the rank of a Metropolitan Archdiocese on 19 September 1953, with the Suffragan Dioceses of Belgaum, Bellary, Chikmagalur, Gulbarga, Karwar, Mangalore, Udupi, Mysore, and Shimoga.

Archdiocese of Bangalore Archidioecesis Bangalorensis
St. Francis Xavier's Metropolitan Cathedral
Location
Country	India
Ecclesiastical province	Bangalore
Headquarters	Bangalore
Coordinates	12.9926881°N 77.6112872°E / 12.9926881; 77.6112872
Statistics
Area	29,950 km2 (11,560 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2022) 17,165,595 360,561 (2.1%)
Parishes	126
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Roman Church
Rite	Latin Rite or Roman rite
Established	13 February 1940
Cathedral	St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Bangalore
Co-cathedral	St. Patrick's Church
Patron saint	St. Francis Xavier
Secular priests	1632
Language	Kannada Tamil English
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Metropolitan Archbishop	Peter Machado
Auxiliary Bishops	Most Rev. Arokiaraj Satis Kumar, Most Rev. Joseph Susainathan
Episcopal Vicars	Rt. Rev. Msgr. Xavier Manavath, CMF
Bishops emeritus	Bernard Moras (2004-2018)
Map
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The archdiocese's mother church and thus seat of its archbishop is the St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Bangalore; Bangalore also houses St. Mary's Basilica. Bishop Peter Machado was appointed Archbishop of Bangalore by Pope Francis on 19 March 2018.

List of Vicar Apostolic, Bishop and Archbishops of Bangalore

• Bishop Etienne-Louis Charbonnaux, M.E.P. (1845–1873)
• Bishop Joseph-Auguste Chevalier, M.E.P. (1873–1880)
• Bishop Jean-Yves-Marie Coadou, M.E.P. (1880–1890)
• Bishop Eugène-Louis Kleiner, M.E.P. (1890–1910)
• Bishop Augustin-François Baslé, M.E.P. (1910–1915)
• Bishop Hippolyte Teissier, M.E.P. (1916–1922)
• Bishop Maurice-Bernard-Benoit-Joseph Despatures, M.E.P. (1922–1942)
• Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury (1942–1967)
• His Eminence Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (Auxiliary Bishop (1962–1964), Coadjutor Archbishop (1964-1967), Archbishop of Bangalore (1967–1971)
• Archbishop Packiam Arokiaswamy (1971–1986)
• Archbishop Alphonsus Mathias (1986–1998)
• Archbishop Ignatius Paul Pinto (1998–2004)
• Monsignor Thomas Jabamalai (Apostolic Administrator, Archdiocese of Bangalore (2004))
• Archbishop Bernard Blasius Moras (2004–2018)
• Archbishop Peter Machado (2018 – Present)

List of Auxiliary Bishops of Bangalore

• His Eminence Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Auxiliary Bishop (1962–1964) (Later Archbishop and Cardinal)
• Most Rev. Dr. Arokiaraj Satis Kumar, Auxiliary Bishop (2024-)
• Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Susainathan, Auxiliary Bishop (2024-)

Domes and crosses of the St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral seen against the Bangalore skyline

St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral

Saints and causes for canonisation

• Ven. Veronica of the Passion (Sophia Leeves)^[1]  
• Servant of God Teresa of St. Rose of Lima^[1]
• Servant of God Fr. Bastiampillai Anthonipillai Thomas^[2]

See also

• Catholic Church in India
• Infant Jesus Church, Bangalore