Ajmer, Diocese of

AJMER, DIOCESE of. - In India, it is suffragan to Agra and entrusted to the Capuchins of the province of Paris. It was erected in 1913 through the elevation to a diocese of the apostolic prefecture of Rajputana, which had in turn been created in 1892 with territory detached from the archdiocese of Agra. It comprises the province of Ajmer-Merwara, almost the whole of Rajputana, and a small part of the Central India Agency, with an area of no fewer than 371,000 sq. km. and approximately 11 million inhabitants. Slightly more than nine tenths of the entire population follow Hinduism; the others are almost all Muslims, while only a very small minority is Christian. Protestants in fact number no more than 9,000, and Catholics 6,059, besides 720 catechumens. Conversions occur almost exclusively among the Bhils, Hinduized aborigines. There are 439 priests (12 of whom are Indians, though originating from other regions of India), assisted by 22 brothers (8 Indians) and 175 nuns (136 Indians).