GORAKHPUR, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE. — It is situated in the United Provinces of northern India. It was erected on 11 July 1946, its territory having been detached from the diocese of Allahabad, and it is suffragan to Agra. It borders the dioceses of Allahabad, Lucknow, Patna, and Ranchi, as well as the small state of Nepal. Within the prefecture’s territory are included the civil district and the city of Benares, watered by the Ganges, the sacred centre of Hinduism, the principal seat of Brahmanic doctrine and culture, and famous for the richness of its mausoleums.
It covers an area of 33,000 sq. km. and has a population of 11,758,000 inhabitants. It is entrusted to the Capuchins. Four fifths of the inhabitants follow Hinduism and the other fifth Islam. The number of Protestants is small, approximately 4,000; that of Catholics is smaller still, barely exceeding 3,000. Ten Canadian and three indigenous Capuchins, three secular priests, and nine brothers work there, together with approximately twenty-five religious sisters, both foreign and indigenous. For some years now, a missionary society has existed near Benares, composed exclusively of Indian members, whose aim is the propagation of the faith in India through the apostolate of Indian priests. This society is of diocesan right and has about thirty seminarians, directed and instructed by several secular priests. The prefecture of G., which is still in its initial stages and undergoing organization, was ecclesiastically divided (1949) into six districts, three parishes, five primary stations, and five secondary stations, with four churches and six chapels. The charitable institutions consist of one hospital with 110 beds, three orphanages with 50 orphans, and six relief stations or outpatient clinics. About fifteen catechists assist the missionaries’ work. The elementary schools have 264 pupils, the middle schools 305, and the secondary schools 242; there are 27 male teachers and 4 female teachers.
In some civil districts of the prefecture, a movement of conversions can be observed among the middle and lower classes, which would give considerable grounds for hope for the future if there were greater abundance of resources and missionary personnel.