CUTHBERT of LINDISFARNE, St. — A contemporary of Wilfrid, Theodore of Tarsus and Benedict Biscop, he belongs to the period of conflict between Celtic and Roman influence in the Anglo-
Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists). Its territory was detached from the diocese of Vizagapatam (q.v.) in 1928 and erected as a mission *sui iuris*, later elevated to a diocese on 10 June 1937.
It has an area of 32,000 sq. km. and a population exceeding 4 million. The people, of Oriya race and language, are concentrated in the fertile, flat coastal belt; in the mountains, however, live several hundred thousand aborigines of Khond race and Kui language. 99% of the inhabitants follow Hinduism; the remaining one per cent consists of 30,000 Muslims, 10,000 Protestants, 12,109 baptised Catholics and 2,805 catechumens (statistics 1948). There are 25 priests, all Lazarists, assisted by 4 brothers, 32 sisters, 37 catechists and 130 teachers. There are 5 districts, 6 quasi-parishes, 5 primary stations and 97 secondary stations with 7 churches and 65 chapels. Apart from a small preparatory seminary with 27 pupils, the diocese maintains 50 elementary schools with 2,112 pupils, 2 middle schools with 308 pupils, 2 high schools with 400 pupils, and 4 orphanages with 304 residents. It publishes a periodical: *Queen of the Mission*, in 3,000 copies.
Within the diocese’s boundaries lie Bhubaneswar with its 500 Hindu shrines, and Puri with the famous temple of Jagannath, permanently staffed by some 6,000 Brahmin priests and several thousand dancing girls; it is one of the principal pilgrimage sites of India’s pagans.