History

The Early Missions of Carmelite and Jesuits

In the year 1859, the Belgian Jesuit missionaries came to Bengal. In 1868 at the invitation of Kala Chand (Stanislas), Fr. Goffinet, SJ went to a small village called Gokurni near Magrahat. A few days later in July 1868, he baptized a little girl of six in Magrahat which was the happy passage for the Christian community in 24 Parganas. From here again Fr. Goffinet went to Koikhali and continued the missionary work started by the Spanish Carmelite priest, under Msgr. Steins, SJ. Fr. Goffinet lived a saintly life. Later it was Fr. E. Delplace, SJ the pioneer who went around establishing five mission stations in four years; Raghabpur, Morapai, Basanti, Khari and Baidyapur (1873-1877). In 1877 Msgr. P. Goethals became the Vicar Apostolic. During this time because of the expansion of the Chotanagpur mission, three Missions were closed and only two were retained, namely Morapai and Raghabpur.

In 1886 the Vicariate Apostolic became the Archdiocese of Calcutta. Under the guidance of Archbishops P. Goethals and B. Meuleman, SJ the Chotanagpur Mission developed wonderfully, so much so, that in 1927 Ranchi became an independent diocese. Archbishop Perier, SJ was at the helm from 1924 to 1960. During this time more attention was given to Bengal Districts. The Yugoslav Jesuit Priests were invited to come to Bengal and to take charge of the 24 Parganas Districts. That move marked a new beginning of the Sunderbans' Mission. Starting from 1925 right up to 1950, 18 Jesuits came from Yugoslavia to work in the Bengal Mission; most of them were posted in the 24 Parganas. They started new mission stations or re-opened old ones, they built churches and chapels and generally, they injected new life in the existing Catholic communities. After the war, unfortunately, the doors were closed and no new missionaries could come in. Later the Belgian Jesuits and Indian Priests took over the missions. The tenure of Archbishop V. Dyer (1960-1962) and Archbishop Albert D'Souza (1962-1969) witnessed further bifurcations of the Archdiocese of Calcutta into the dioceses of Jamshedpur, Darjeeling and Dumka. Father L.T. Picachy, SJ became the Bishop of Jamshedpur and later Archbishop of Calcutta in 1969 and Cardinal in 1976.

Erection of the Diocese
By the Papal Bull, Ad Supernam, Pope Paul VI created on 12 March 1978 the diocese of Baruipur, detaching from the Archdiocese of Calcutta the Southern and Central Portion of the civil district commonly known as the 24 Parganas and the civil territories called Thana.The boundaries of the diocese thus constituted will be: to the East, Bangladesh; to the South, the Bay of Bengal; to the West, the river Hooghly and to the North, the limits of the following territories, commonly known as 'Thana”, namely, Mahestala, Bishnupur, Bhangar, Haroa, Minakhan and Hansabad.

To provide more fittingly for the care of the souls, two other territories are joined to the new diocese viz. the southern part of Behala 'thana' of which the northern limit is Biren Roy Road and from the Tollygunj 'thana' a small piece of territory called 'mouza' Purpoputiary. The diocese of Baruipur is the suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Calcutta with its seat in the town of Baruipur, where also is placed the Episcopal Cathedral.

Pastoral Leadership of the Diocese since its Inception
Bishop Linus Nirmal Gomes, SJ was ordained as first Bishop of Baruipur Diocese on November 19, 1977. There were lots of developments in the diocese during his reign. To place on record, three new parishes were erected namely Baruipur, Gosaba and Budge Budge; 11 new institutions like Palli Unnayan Samiti, Bishop's House, Women's Welfare Centre, convents (Holy Cross Convent, Baruipur, Bethany Convent, Thakurpukur, Daughters of St. Anne, Gobrachawk), schools (K.E. Carmel School-Amtala, Holy Cross School- Baruipur), Juniorate Dhyan Ashram, IBVM - Candidacy at Thakurpukur IBVM, AC Postulancy at Keorapukur etc.

Rt. Rev. Linus Nirmal Gomes, SJ submitted his resignation to the Holy Father due to ill health after leading the diocese as the good shepherd for 18 years. The Holy Father accepted his resignation with effect from October 31, 1995. Following his retirement, in 1997 he agreed to lead a Jesuit mission to Bangladesh. He stayed there for 14 years with a group of Jesuit from 1997-2014. He returned to St. Xavier's College Calcutta in 2014 where he spent his last 7 years before breathing his last on 27 February 2021 at 3 a.m. in the infirmary of Kolkata St. Xavier's College. The funeral Mass of the Most Rev. Linus Nirmal Gomes, SJ Presided over by His Lordship, Most Rev. Shyamal Bose, was held on Monday, 01 March 2021 at 03 p.m., in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Teresa of Calcutta, Baruipur followed by rite of burial in the Bishop's House cemetery.

Rev. Fr. Salvadore Lobo was elected the Administrator of the diocese after the retirement of Most Rev. Linus Nirmal Gomes, SJ. He was later appointed the Bishop of Baruipur by the Holy See on November 14, 1997 and was ordained a Bishop on January 29, 1998.

Under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Salvadore Lobo, the diocese witnessed many milestones. A few quasi Parishes, a number of new parishes, several new churches, new presbyteries and mission stations were established, and old ones were extended and renovated. To mention a few: Sonarpur (1998), Ranigarh (1998), Salepur (2007); Sajnaberia (2000), Panchamkhanda (2003), Gangarampur (2000), Diamond Harbour (2001), Canning (2004), Nazat (2015), Sobnamaskar and Panchamkhanda Church (2017), Basanti (2012) Thakurpukur (2016), Bamanpukur (2017) and Hogalkuria (2018).

Many religious men and women have been invited to take up the challenges of the diocese. They are: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS), Diamond Park (1996), the Carmelite of Mother Carmel (CMC), Budge Budge (1980), Missionaries of Charity Sisters (MC), Kirtankhola (1999) and Gangarampur (2004), Daughters of the Cross ( FC) Gosaba (2000) and Baidyapur (2013), Daughters of St. Anne (DSA) Ranigrah (2000) and Kalikanan (2002), Holy Cross Convent (HCM) Bakeswar (2017) and Sisters of Destitute, Canning (2018).

Many schools were set up like K.E. Carmel School, Sarisha (2007), De Paul School, Canning ( 2008), St. Xavier's Technical Institute (CMI), Basanti (2009), St. Montfort Sr. Sec. School, Balarampur (2011), De Paul School, Jayanpur (2014), Bethany School, Thakurpukur (2015), Carmel English Medium School, Keorapukur (2015), St. Mary's English Medium School, Kalyanpur (2015).

Institutions of different types were established such as Paribar Jyoti and Samarpan Minor seminary (2004), Dishari, Pastoral Centre (2007), Cathedral (2009), ASHA, a Senior Clergy Home (2019).

Pope Francis made an announced of the appointed of Rev. Fr. Shyamal Bose as the Co adjutor Bishop of Baruipur Diocese on 17 May 2019. He was consecrated as the Coadjutor Bishop of Baruipur on 24 June 2019.

On 4 May 2020 on the completion of 75 years, the Holy Father Pope Francis accepted the resignation of His Excellency, Most Rev. Salvadore Lobo from the pastoral care of the diocese and appointed Most Rev. Shyamal Bose, a son of the soil, to succeed him as the Bishop of Baruipur Diocese. Consequently, Most Rev. Shyamal Bose was installed to the pastoral care of the diocese of Baruipur in a celebration of the Eucharist at Cathedral of Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Teresa of Calcutta on 10 May 2020. The Installation of Most Rev. Shyamal Bose, will be forever reminisced in the annals of the diocese of Baruipur as a truly historic day for its uniqueness. The installation ceremony of a new bishop which is to take place normally in a public Eucharistic liturgical celebration could not be possible due to the inevitable lockdown enforced by the Pandemic Covid -19. Thus, it took place in the presence of a bishop and ten priests. This singular ceremony indeed marked the beginning of a new chapter in both the life of the bishop and the diocese that he has been appointed to shepherd by the Holy Father.