Diocese of

Bettiah

India

Continent: South and East Asia

Rite: Roman (Latin)

Type: Diocese Diocese

Name: Bettiah / Bettiahen(sis) (Latin)

Ecclesiastical Province: Patna

Neighbouring Dioceses: Varanasi (↙), Gorakhpur (←), Nepal (↗), Muzaffarpur (↘), Patna (↘), Buxar (↓)

Depends on: Dicastery for Evangelisation

Celebrations

Patron Saint: Our Lady of the Rosary

Liturgical Calendar (National) 📅

History

1892.04.20: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Bettiah / Bettiahen(sis) (Latin) (from Diocese of Allahabad)
1893.05.19: Gained territory from Metropolitan Archdiocese of Agra
1919.09.10: Suppressed (to establish Diocese of Patna)
1998.06.27: Restored as Diocese of Bettiah / Bettiahen(sis) (Latin) (from Diocese of Muzaffarpur and became suffragan of Ranchi)
1999.03.16: Became suffragan of Patna

Present Prelates

Bishop (2017.07.22 – ...):

Bishop Peter Sebastian Goveas (71)

Ordinaries

Bishops of Bettiah (Roman Rite)

Bishop Peter Sebastian Goveas (71)
(2017.07.22 – ...)

Bishop of Bettiah (India)

Born:	1955.02.08 (Hosabettu, India)
Ordained Priest:	1983.12.09
Consecrated Bishop:	2017.10.19

Priest of Bhagalpur (India) (1983.12.09 – 2017.07.22)

Bishop of Bettiah (India) (2017.07.22 – ...)

Bishop Victor Henry Thakur (71) (later Archbishop)
(1998.06.27 – 2013.07.03)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Raipur (India)

I do it for you

Born:	1954.07.01 (Chakhni, India)
Ordained Priest:	1984.05.03
Consecrated Bishop:	1998.11.11

Priest of Muzaffarpur (India) (1984.05.03 – 1998.06.27)

Bishop of Bettiah (India) (1998.06.27 – 2013.07.03)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Raipur (India) (2013.07.03 – ...)

Prefects Apostolic of Bettiah (Roman Rite)

Fr. Eugen Remigius Schwarz, O.F.M. Cap.
(1892 – 1918.02)

Born:	1873.03.11 (Germany)
Ordained Priest:	1895
Died:	1918.02 († 44)

Prefect Apostolic of Bettiah (India) (1892 – 1918.02)

Special Churches

Cathedral: Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bettiah, Bihār

Varanasi (↙), Gorakhpur (←), Nepal (↗), Muzaffarpur (↘), Patna (↘), Buxar (↓)

Statistics (2022.12.31)

Area: 10,699 km²

Population: 6,207 Catholics (0.0% of 18,896,770 total)

Pastoral Centres: 17 parishes, 12 missions

Personnel: 57 priests (33 diocesan, 24 religious), 169 religious (29 brothers, 140 sisters), 4 seminarians

Pastoral Centres

Last updated on 2026.03.30

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