Allahabad [Prayagraj], Diocese of

ALLAHABAD [PRAYAGRAJ], Diocese of. - City of northern India, capital of the district and of the region of the same name. Its position at the confluence of two sacred rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna, gives it a sacred character as well, whence the various names by which it was designated: the ancient one of Prayag or "the confluence" par excellence; that of Triveni or "the three ways," constituted by the three rivers: Ganges, Yamuna and the new Ganges that results from them; and then that of A. or "abode of Allāh," given to it in the first half of the 17th century by the shah Jahan. The most famous among the cities of its region is Benares, on the Ganges, a stronghold of Hinduism, thick with temples.

Ecclesiastically A. is now a diocese suffragan of Agra. But previously it was part of the vast apostolic vicariate of Tibet-Hindustan, or of Agra, erected in 1820; then of the apostolic vicariate of Patna, detached from the former (1845) and subsequently erected into a diocese (1886) under the name of A. The territory, still very vast, was diminished by the successive erections of the apostolic prefecture of Bettiah (1892), of the diocese of Patna (1919), of the apostolic prefecture of Jubbulpore (1932), of Jhansi (1940), of the diocese of Lucknow (1940) and finally of the apostolic prefecture of Gorakhpur (1946). On this occasion the diocese passed from the Capuchins to the indigenous secular clergy.

Evangelization proceeded ever slowly because of the obstacles erected on every side by deep-rooted superstition, by the fanaticism of the pagans, by the various uprisings against the English occupier.

The diocese has an area of 120,000 sq km, and a population (1939) of 28 million inhabitants, of whom Catholics, catechumens included, number about 17,000; the others are Protestants, Jews, Muslims (8 million), pagans (about 20 million). It has 22 churches, of which 5 are parishes and 25 quasi-parishes, and 16 chapels. The secular priests number 57, of whom 19 are Indian; aided by the Christian Brothers and by 145 sisters of various Congregations, numbering 145, among whom 16 are Indian and 17 Anglo-Indian. The elementary schools number 21 with 460 pupils; the middle schools 7 with 1,072 pupils; the higher schools 8 with 1,632 pupils; the vocational schools 2 with 34 pupils. There are also 1 hospital and 26 dispensaries, orphanages and homes for the aged.

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