CUTTACK, DIOCESE of. — A suffragan of Madras (India), it is entrusted to the Spanish missionaries of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists). Its territory was separated from the diocese of Vizagapatam (v.) in 1928 and erected as a mission sui iuris, subsequently raised to a diocese on 1 June 1937.
It has an area of 32,000 sq. km., and its inhabitants number more than 4 million. The population, of Oriya stock and language, is concentrated in the fertile, level coastal belt; in the mountains, on the other hand, live several hundred thousand aborigines of Khond stock and Kui language. Ninety per cent of the inhabitants follow Hinduism; the remaining tenth consists of 30,000 Muslims, 10,000 Protestants, 12,109 baptized Catholics, and 2,805 catechumens (1948 statistics). There are 25 priests, all Lazarists, assisted by 4 brothers, 32 nuns, 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. In addition to a small preparatory seminary with 27 students, the diocese maintains 50 elementary schools with 2,112 pupils, 2 middle schools with 308 pupils, 2 secondary schools with 400 pupils, and 4 orphanages with 304 residents. A periodical is published there: Queen of the Mission, in 3,000 copies.
Within the boundaries of the diocese are Bhubaneswar, with its 500 Hindu sanctuaries, and Puri, with the famous temple of Jagannath, which is permanently served by approximately 6,000 Brahmin priests and several thousand dancers: it is one of the principal places of pilgrimage for the pagans of India.