History

A Brief History of Archdiocese of Ranchi 

Brief History:- The first missionaries to arrive at Ranchi were the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Pastors in 1845. In 1868 the S.P.G Mission (Church of North India) was the second to be established here. The Roman Catholic Mission started at Chaibasa (now in the Diocese of Jamshedpur) on July 10, 1869, by the first Belgian Jesuit Fr. Auguste Stockman.  His work among the Ho tribe did not yield results, so he moved towards the district of Ranchi in January 1875. The first mission stations were opened among the Mundas. However, the real impetus came from Fr. Constant Lievens and Fr. Hoffmann who helped indigenous people to restore their land through the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act in 1908 and also opened a Catholic Cooperative Credit Society in the same year. 

The Archdiocese of Ranchi, the Mission Land of the great Belgian Jesuit Rev Fr. Constant Livens, the Apostle of Chhotanagpur, was the part of Calcutta Archdiocese till 25 th May 1927. On 25 th May 1927 by decree of the Holy See Pope Pius XI, this part of tribal land was separated from the Calcutta archdiocese to form a new diocese with Ranchi as its episcopal seat and Msgr. Louis Van Hoeck was the first bishop. St. Francis Xavier was taken as the Patron Saint of the Archdiocese.

On 19th September 1953, it was elevated to the status of Archdiocese by Pope Paul VI. Eventually, the faith spread and took firm roots among the tribals viz. Oraon, Mundas, Kharia of Chhotanagpur. Over the years, for the better pastoral care of the faithful, the Ranchi Archdiocese was divided into 7 new dioceses viz. Sambhalpur, Raigarh-Ambikapur, Daltonganj, Port Blair, Gumla, Simdega and Khunti.

The present Archdiocese of Ranchi comprises the civil district of Lohardaga and a part of Ranchi covering 5, 299 sq. km. The total population in this area is above 18 lakh, of which 1, 0 4000 are Catholics. 87 Diocesan priests rendering their service in 33 parishes, 6 Mission Stations, and Schools. Belgian missionaries have done their part in evangelization. Now it is our turn to make alive the mission statement i.e., “Let the Fire Burn”.