SHILLONG, DIOCESE OF. – Located in northeastern India, a suffragan of Calcutta.
In 1889 the Apostolic Prefecture of Assam was erected, carved out of the territory of the Archdiocese of Calcutta and the Diocese of Krishnagar and entrusted to the Society of the Divine Saviour. With the outbreak of the First World War, the Salvatorian fathers, all of German nationality, were expelled, and the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda appointed the Archbishop of Calcutta as Apostolic Administrator. After the war, the Prefecture of Assam was given to the Salesians of Don Bosco (1921), and on 9 July 1934 it was raised to the status of a diocese under the name of Shillong. The principality of Bhutan (46,600 sq. km., population 300,000) lies within its territory. The diocese covers 185,500 sq. km. and has 7,300,000 inhabitants, of whom 4,000,000 are Hindus, 2,200,000 animists, 750,000 Muslims, 224,500 Protestants, and 84,564 Catholics. There are 52 priests, all Salesians from abroad except for two Indians, and 14 lay brothers. Also assisting in the missionary work are 111 sisters, mostly foreign, belonging to six different institutes. The major seminary has 14 students and there is a minor seminary with 19 boys.
Unique in its variety of races, languages, and climates, the diocese is bordered on the north by the Himalayan ranges and contains two highly fertile plains divided by high hills where animist tribes live with the most diverse dialects and customs. Along the plain of the Brahmaputra the majority are Hindus, while in the Surma plain the majority are Muslims. Ecclesiastically the diocese is divided into three districts or deaneries, 18 primary stations, and 10 secondary stations. There are 710 male catechists and 19 female catechists, 293 male teachers and 114 female teachers, 308 elementary schools, and 23 middle schools of various grades. The mission also has three collegiate institutions. Charitable works include four hospitals, fifteen dispensaries, thirteen orphanages, four homes for the elderly, one leprosarium, and twenty-six oratories. It is one of the most promising dioceses in northern India. By decree of 12 July 1951, the civil districts of Lakhimpur, North Lakhimpur, Naga Hills, Sibsagar, Manipur, and the Sadya Frontier Tract—covering an area of 79,000 sq. km. and a population of 3,300,000 (of whom 30,000 were Catholics)—were detached to form the new Diocese of Dibrugarh.