Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cathedral

G.P.O. Box no. 152

Bandel Road, Patherghata

Chattogram-4000

Bangladesh

Telephone: +88 02333362256

Sunday:

6.30 am (Bengali), 4.30 pm & 6.00 pm (Bengali & English alternatively)

Monday-Saturday:

6.30 am (Bengali), 5.30 pm (Bengali)

District: Chattogram

The area under Chattogram City Corporation: 4 no. Chandgaon, 5 no. Mohora, 6 no. East Solosohor, 17 no. West Bakolia, 18 no. East Bakolia, 19 no. South Bakolia, 23 no. North Pathantuli, 24 no. North Agrabad, 27 no. South Agrabad, 28 no. Pathantuli, 29 no. West Madarbari, 30 no. East Madarbari, 31 no. Alkaran, 32 no. Anderkilla, 33 no. Feringeebazar, 34 no. Patherghata, 35 no. Bakshirhat, 36 no. Gosaildanga, 37 no. North Middle Halisahar, 38 no. South Middle Halisahar, 39 no. South Halisahar, 40 no. North Patenga, 41 no. South Patenga.

The area under Rangunia Upazila: Rajanagar, Hosnabad, Sonirvor Rangunia, Mariamnagar, Parua, Pomra, Betagi, Sorofbhata, Shilok, Chandraghona, Kodala, Islampur, South Rajanagar, Lalanagar.

The area under Boalkhali Upazila: Kodhurkhali, East Gomdondi, West Gomdondi, Shakpura, Sarowatoli, Popadia, Chorondip, Sreepur-Khorondip, Amuchia, Aholla Koroldenga.

The area under Raojan Upazila: Raojan, Bagowan, Binajuri, Chikdair, Dabua, East Gujra, West Gujra, Gohira, Holodia, Kodolpur, Noapara, Pahartoli, Urkirchor, Nowajishpur.

The Portuguese traders came to Chittagong in 1517. They were the first group of Catholics to arrive in Bengal. Gradually they have settled. In 1598 there were 2500 Portuguese and their descendants in Chittagong and Arakan. To attend to their pastoral and sacramental needs, two Jesuit missionaries Father Francisco Fernandez and Father Domingo De Souza arrived in 1598. They were the first missionaries in the area of present Bangladesh. The first church and a residence were built by Fr. Fernandez and dedicated to ‘St. John the Baptist’ on the 24th June 1600.

The Dominicans were the second religious order to come to Chittagong. Franciscan Friars came in 1605, Augustinians in 1621 and Benedictines in 1843.

Arakanese made an attack and ransacked the church of St. John the Baptist, put on fire on November 8, 1602. The Arakanese used the sacred chalice of the church of St. John the Baptist as a spittoon. At that time Fr. Francisco mercilessly thrashed and deprived of one eye. Being tortured he expired in prison on the 14th November 1602. He is the first Christian Missionary who suffered martyrdom in the soil of Bengal. He was buried on the ruins of St. John’s the Baptist Church on which the present church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is founded. Fourteen Portuguese Christians were beheaded in 1625 for the religion of Christ and the defence of their faith.

In the middle of January 1713, Mgr. Francois Laynes, S.J. the fifth Bishop of Mylapore came to Chittagong. He is the first bishop to visit the place. During that time there were three colonies of Christians at a half league from one another.

There was a ‘Medlycott’ Anglo-Indian family during the third decade of the 19th century. A son of the family was Adolphus Edwin Medlycott who was born on 15th May 1838. Later they had moved to India. Adolphus Edwin Medlycott was an ordained priest on 17 March 1861. He was nominated titular bishop of Tricomia and first Vicar Apostolic of Trichur on 13 September 1887, consecrated Bishop on 11 December 1887.

Fr. Goiran built a bungalow in 1843 which served as a school for the girls. The bungalow was later transformed into the Bishop’s House. The Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is built by Fr. Goiran in 1843 on the site of St. John the Baptist Church destroyed in 1602. Father Jean Barbé, OSB was the pastor in 1843.

The Vicariate Apostolic of Eastern Bengal is created in 1845 by the Propaganda Fide and Chittagong became the seat of the Vicar Apostolic Mgr. Thomas Oliffe, S.J. He confirmed 120 Catholics who never saw a bishop in their life. He founded a convent named Bethlehem Convent in 1846. The Loretto nuns took the responsibility of Bethlehem Convent.

The first Holy Cross missionaries for Chittagong were assigned in 1853. Chittagong became the Holy Cross headquarter on 8th December 1853 and remained until 1876. Holy Cross Brother Benedict Fitzpatrick founded the first school and named it Catholic Free School. Bro. Benedict was the first director of the school. The school was later renamed Roman Catholic Day School. On withdrawal of the Holy Cross from Eastern Bengal, the Benedictine fathers took the charge of the school after 1876 and renamed it to St. Placid’s School. The centenary of the Congregation of Holy Cross was celebrated in 1937.

From the Holy See, Mgr. Charbonneaux, Visitor Apostolic came to Chittagong in 1862 to encourage the Christians for their faith, struggles and persecution. A massive fire on 9th December 1877 destroyed the priests’ house and the orphanage. The occurrence burnt all the archives preserved.

Five sisters of Our Lady of the Mission from Lyons arrived in 1883. Mgr. Balsieper placed them in the place of the old Bethlehem convent abandoned by the Loretto sisters. The main building of the one today was completed on 15th August 1886. The RNDM sisters started an orphanage and school. A novitiate was established in 1889. Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) celebrated their Golden Jubilee on the feast of the Sacred Heart in June 1933 at Cathedral Parish. In 1972 RNDM took a radical step to collect poor boys and girls from surrounding fishing villages and started the Don Bosco Evening Primary School.

In 1924 a church for mainly Goanese railway employees, built and funded by themselves, was set up at Pahartoli and dedicated to St. Joseph.

In 1927 Chittagong is canonically erected as a Diocese with the church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary as its Cathedral.

St. Joseph Apostolic School was founded in 1928. There were 12 seminarians (Anglo-Indians). One Industrial School for Vocational Training was in Chittagong. The Catholic Club in Patherghata was founded and remained under the direction of the local pastor.

The ordination of Fr. Peter Shaha of Narikelbari, the first Bengali and Diocesan priest, took place at the Cathedral on December 11, 1931. He died on 13, March 1989. He was buried at Cathedral Parish Cemetery.

During world war, II the Japanese started bombing Chittagong. St. Placid’s was shifted to Padrishibpur. During the war many fathers, brothers and sisters were taken as prisoners in the Philippines by the Japanese. Br. Romain Laferriere, C.S.C. teacher of St. Placid’s School, a prisoner in the Philippines was beheaded by the Japanese on February 4, 1945.

The Legion of Mary was founded in 1945. In 1947 St. Joseph Minor Seminary is reopened. In 1956 The Christian Credit Union started. St. Xavier’s School in Pahartoli were opened at this time. In 1958 Catholic Youth Movement was launched. St. Peter’s Bengali Primary School at St. Scholastica’s also started in 1958. To help the poor Catholic people, St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) started in the Diocese in 1961. To give the dropout boys some vocational training, St. Joseph Technical School was opened on 14 February 1962 with 43 participants. In July 1963, a managing committee called the Association of Christian School Administration (A.C.S.A) was formed at St. Placid’s School. In 1964 Parish Council is formed at the Cathedral Parish. Christian Welfare Association of Chittagong is also established in the same year. Parish Bulletin of Cathedral ‘Gleanings and Sevok’ were first published in 1979.

A very strong cyclone and tidal bore swept the south shore of East Pakistan on 12 and 13 November 1970. Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation (CORR) came forward to rescue the situation.

Fr. Raymond Dujarrier, PRADO from France founded Seva Sangha, a Technical School for youth in 1975. Patherghata Health Centre was started this year. To help in running Father Boudreau’s hospital, the Medical Sisters (S.C.M.M) came in 1976. A Students’ House started.

The Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of Fr. Thomas Quiah and Silver Jubilee of Bishop Joachim Rozario, C.S.C. and Fr. Bertram A. Nelson, C.S.C. were celebrated at the Cathedral Parish on April 22, 1988.

In 1991, Missionaries of Charity (M.C.) sisters came to serve the very needy people of the city and the surroundings. They have established a home for the destitute and orphans in Phartali in 1993. The Silver Jubilee of Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Joachim Rozario, C.S.C. was celebrated at the Cathedral Parish. In 1997 a Priests’ residence was blessed.

In 2000, The diocese celebrated the Great Jubilee 2000. On this occasion, a Marian Shrine was erected. To honour the first martyr Fr. Francisco Fernandez, S.J. a monument was erected. A marble tablet with historical events on it was posted on the wall of the Cathedral Church. A monument in memory of the first Bishop of the Diocese is erected and the renovation of two graves of the 2nd and 3rd Bishops of the Diocese has been done.

Then sub-centre under the Cathedral, Diang is erected as a new parish in 2009. Bishop’s House at Patherghata became unsafe for residence which was built in 1843. The Bishop and his curia were accommodated in the Cathedral Parish rectory.

Renovation of Cathedral Church started in 2018. The interior part especially with Sanctuary being in a new look was completed. A new brass Tabernacle replaced the old wooden one which was blessed on 23 December, the 4th Sunday of Advent, by Archbishop Moses Costa. On 16th January 2019, the newly built Archbishop’s House is blessed during a mass presided over by Archbishop Moses Costa.

Parish Priest: Fr. Regan Clement D’Costa.

Assistant Parish Priest: Fr. Benjamin Pintu Costa.

Congregation of Holy Cross Brothers (CSC): 4 Brothers serving.

Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM): 14 Sisters serving.

Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross (CSC): 2 Sisters serving.

Salesian Sisters of Mary Immaculate (SSMI): 3 Sisters serving.

Sister of the Little Handmaids of the Church (LHC): 2 Sisters serving.

1. Parish Pastoral Council.
2. Liturgy Sub-committee.
3. Justice and Peace Sub-committee. 
4. Education Sub-committee.
5. Formation in Christian Life Sub-committee. 
6. Security Sub-committee. 
7. Cemetery Sub-committee.
8. Sevok/ Gleanings Editorial Board.

1. Christian Students’ Organization (CSO).
2. Young Christian Students (YCS).
3. Charismatic Movements.
4. Holy Childhood Society.
5. Padrishibpur Samaj Shangha.
6. Bangladesh Catholic Students’ Movement (BCSM). 

1. St. Scholastica’s KG School, Est. 1883 AD.
2. Brother Flavian KG School.
3. Don Bosco Afternoon School, Est. 1972 AD.
4. Old Placidian’s Literacy Centre, Est. 1992 AD.
5. St. Placid’s School & College, Est. 1853 AD.
6. St. Scholastica’s Girls School & College, Est. 1883 AD.
7. Seva Sangha (Vocational Training School), Est. 1975 AD.

1. Father Boudreau’s Medical Centre, Est. 1946 AD.
2. St. Benedict’s Creche, Est. 1883 AD.
3. St. Peter’s Orphanage, Est. 1883 AD.

1. The Catholic Club.
2. The Christian Cooperative Thrift and Credit Union Ltd.
3. The Chattogram Metropolitan Christian Credit Union, Chattogram.
4. Chattogram Metropolitan Christian Housing Society, Chattogram.

Catholics (registered): 5,596

Catholics (non-registered migrants): 800 (L.S.)

Sub-centers: 3

Church wards: 11

Church: 5

Catechist: 1

Prayer leaders: 35 (Volunteers)

Parish workers: 5

1. Late Bishop Adolphus Edwin Medlycott (first Vicar Apostolic of Trichure, India).
2. Late Fr. Augustine Mascarhenas, CSC.
3. Late Fr. Bertrand Rodrigues.
4. Terence Rodrigues.
5. Late Bro. Joseph Rodrigues, CSC.
6. Late Bro. Marvyn Baptist, CSC.
7. Late Bro. Jerlath D’Souza, CSC.
8. Late Sr. Scholastica Baptist, RNDM.
9. Late Sr. Jui Penheiro, RNDM.
10. Late Sr. Mactildey Quiah, RNDM.
11. Late Sr. Xavier Rodrigues, RNDM.
12. Late Sr. Irene Georgina, RNDM.
13. Late Sr. Denis Pereira, RNDM.
14. Late Sr. Obert Rozario, RNDM.
15. Late Sr. Mourus Rodrigues, RNDM.
16. Late Sr. Euphrasie Benbo, RNDM.
17. Late Sr. Maxima Rozado, RNDM.
18. Late Sr. Mark D’Costa, RNDM.
19. Late Sr. Unifred Baptist, RNDM.
20. Late Sr. Pelaji Rozario, RNDM.
21. Late Sr. Cornelius Gonsalves, RNDM.
22. Sr. Konica Sarkar, CSC