The OFFICAL page for the Archdiocese of Bangalore. who was at that time coadjutor Bishop of Pondicherry. Combret. He is buried inside the church.
Archbishop’s House, # 75, Millers Road, Benson Town, Post Box No. 2
Bangalore
560046
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE
The Diocese of Bangalore was formerly a part of the Mysore Mission which was separated from Pondicherry in 1845 and entrusted to the Fathers of the PARIS FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY (Missions Etrangeres de Paris). The Mysore mission was erected into a Vicariate Apostolic in 1850 and entrusted to Msgr Charbonnaux, MEP. who was at that time coadjutor Bishop of Pondicherry. In 1886, the Bull "Humanae Salutis Auctor" elevated the Vicariate of Mysore to the rank of a Diocese. Mysore was the title and Bangalore was the headquarters of the Mission. All along the second part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th the Foreign Mission Society, under successive Bishops, developed a network of churches, schools, convents and colleges. Thus they prepared Bangalore to become an Archdiocese, a great capital and a cosmopolitan city. The Christian infrastructure of Bangalore owes much to the French Fathers, SERVANTON Circle in Cantonment area and Briand Square near City Market, perpetuate the memory of the Founders. The above two along with the following viz., SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER'S CATHEDRAL whose first Parish Priest was Fr. Jarrige in 1842, and SAINT JOSEPH'S CHURCH built by Fr. Bigot-Beauclair in 1851-1852, SAINT MARY'S BASILICA, started as the first church in Bangalore, was built as we see it now, by Fr. Kleiner between 1875 and 1882 before he was made Bishop. The SACRED HEART CHURCH was completed in 1895 by Fr. Combret. The then Cathedral, SAINT PATRICK'S CHURCH, was completed by Fr. Gailhot in 1844 and renovated by the illustrious Fr. Tabard who was its Parish Priest from 04.12.1891 till 12.04.1925. He is buried inside the church. The ST PETER'S SEMINARY at Malleswaram, now a Philosophy and Theology faculty and centre for Canon Law was established in Pondicherry in1777 by Bishop Brigot, first MEP Superior of the Malabar Mission. The Seminary was shifted to Bangalore in 1934. SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE was founded 1882 by MEP Fathers. It was handed over to the Society of Jesus on 1 June 1937. Subsequently the Diocese was bifurcated and thus the Diocese of Bangalore was erected on 13th February, 1940. It became an Archdiocese on 19th September, 1953. On 14th November, 1988, the Diocese of Shimoga was created to which Bangalore Archdiocese ceded the civil district of Chitradurga. Thus the Archdiocese of Bangalore now comprises six civil districts of Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chickballapur, Kolar, Ramnagara and Tumkur. These cover an area of 27,123 Sq kms with a total population of 1,61,31,589 as per the census of 2010 currently the Catholic Christian population is 4,25,000 (2010).
