Calcutta Province

The Bengal Mission began with the arrival of the Jesuits of the English Province in 1834. They started St. Xavier’s School shortly after their arrival. However, squabbles over jurisdiction made it impossible for them to stay. In 1846, the closure of St Xavier’s and the departure of the Jesuits were decided.

However, Mgr. Thomas Oliffe, the next Vicar Apostolic of Bengal was planning the return of the Jesuits. He applied to the Superior General who entrusted the responsibility of the Mission to the Belgian Province. The first batch, headed by Fr. Henri Depelchin, five Belgians and two members of the English Province, landed in Calcutta in November, 1859. Beginnings were very humble: the fathers were entrusted with reopening of St Xavier’s School, pastoral care of St Thomas Church and the spiritual direction of the Loreto nuns in Calcutta. They took up their residence in Park Street in the former Sans Souci Theatre with its monumental colonnaded entrance.

With the steady arrival of new recruits from Belgium, the Bengal Mission developed. The first developments took place in the 24 Parganas, under the direction of Fr. Edmond Delplace, who answered a call of some Protestants from Basanti and went to live in their midst in 1873, from where it spread to Boddipur, Khari, Morapai and Raghabpur. By 1880, the initial momentum had slowed down. In 1882, Fr. Delplace had to return to Bruges in Belgium, where he died in 1927.Two mission stations were established – Morapai and Raghabpur, which were kept alive or rather stagnating till the second renascence under Fr Ruwet and the Yugoslav Fathers from 1927 onwards.

In the West, a German Fr. Schaff, travelling from Midnapur along the ‘Bombay Road’ settled down at Jhargram and evangelized Bengalis of the Hari caste. A large tract of land was bought a few miles away, at Jualbhanga, with the intention of running it as a zamindari. A similar idea led the same Fr Schaff to Krishnachondropur in Mayurbhanj, where a huge plot of land – 16 square miles of forest and rice land, was leased from the local Maharajah.Alas, future developments showed only too well that running a zamindari and a parish leads to endless troubles: Jualbhanga, Krishnachondropur, and much later Boddipur in 24 Parganas had to be closed.

Mgr. Paul Goethals became the first Archbishop of Calcutta with the establishment of the Hierarchy in India in 1886. It was at that time that an exceptionally gifted missionary, Fr Constant Lievens in the full strength of his youth, began to spread the Gospel values. He saved the lands of the Adivasis from the clutches of the petty landlords by his way of winning lawsuits against them. He was acclaimed as a liberator, and people flocked to him in their tens of thousands. He was regarded as ‘The Apostle of Chotanagpur’.

Starting from Torpa in the Munda country, Lievens met with an overwhelming response among the Oraons of the Barway. Unfortunately, he contracted tuberculosis and had to be repatriated to Belgium where he died at Louvain in 1893; streptomycin had not yet been discovered.

By then Jesuits from Belgium were coming in steadily. With men like Frs. Cordon, Dehon and others, the work was consolidated. Mission stations were established, churches were built, schools opened. Manresa House, Ranchi became the headquarter of the Ranchi Mission.

By 1900 large numbers came over in Biru, and a mission station was opened at Samtoli, which became the centre of a new district. Fr E. De Gryze, a second Lievens, opened with tremendous success a new district in the territories of the local Rajah of Gangpur, where thousands of Oraons, Kharias and Mundas came over. He also died young.

Later on, another friendly Rajah, the Rajah of Jashpur, allowed and even called in the missionaries to preach in his territory. Thousands of Oraons came over. This movement was to develop later on among the Oraons further West, in what became the Dioceses of Raigarh and Ambikapur.

A new evangelization movement among the Santals of North Bengal had been started by the indefatigable Fr. Leopold Knockaert, who had initially succeeded Fr Schaff at Jhargram. The 24 Parganas were languishing.

The Theologate of St Mary’s Kurseong, started in 1889, had to be provided with a staff, so also St Joseph’s College in Darjeeling and St Xavier’s in Calcutta. With foresight, Fr Veys applied to the General for help from other Provinces. Correspondence began in 1923 with the Sicilian and Yugoslav Provincials. Response was generous: the Sicilian Fathers were directed to the Santal apostolate and the Yugoslav to the 24 Parganas.

The arrival of the Yugoslav Fathers, Fr Mesaric and his companions, injected new life into the 24 Parganas. Basanti and Khari were started; Morapai and Raghabpur began to flourish. There was a good response from the people to the Gospel. Among the Santals, Frs. Anthony De Bono, Joseph M. Gauchi Sacco and others started Majlispur, north of Ganges, and Mongolpara in the Santal Parganas.

In 1922, Frs. George Dandoy and Pierre Johanns who had been in Oxford to study Sanskrit and Oriental subjects, started the Light of the East, the first attempt at reaching the educated classes of Bengal.

Then came India’s independence in 1947. Fr. Louis Schillebeeckx succeeded Fr. John Baptist Moyersoen at the helm. During this time the American Jesuits of the Maryland Province took over Jamshedpur and Dhanbad, while Darjeeling with St Joseph’s College (not St Mary’s), Darjeeling and the adjoining mission of Gayaganga went over to the Canadian Fathers.

Owing to the difficult political situation of their country, besides one priest and two brothers, Yugoslavia was unable to send new missionaries. Belgian and Indian fathers worked hand in hand in the 24 Parganas.

When the popular Fr. Jean Henrichs ended his term, the Bengal Mission became a Vice-Province, taking directions directly from Rome, and no more from Brussels. With Fr. Robert Antoine at the helm in 1959, a process of inculturation was ushered in, not without reactions from the old guards. Perhaps the pace of inculturation was too fast for many Calcutta Jesuits. By 1963, back went Fr Antoine to Shanti Bhavan where he carried on with Fr. Pierre Fallon and others the intellectual apostolate of contact and dialogue planned by the short-lived Oriental Institute.

Fr. Mathieu Schillings, while holding the fort in Shanti Bhavan later on, contributed to writings in Bengali and translation of the spiritual treasures in Bengali. The invaluable contribution of Fr. Jean Engelbert in the field of translation and publication of Liturgical books in Bengali needs to be mentioned here as well.

With Fr. Albert Wautier at the helm, things were stabilized. Two English medium schools were started at Burdwan and Durgapur. New land was acquired along with future Prabhu Jisur Girja.

With time, the Vice Province became a Province with two Regions, the Santal and Darjeeling Regions, loosely connected with Calcutta. Eventually in 1989, the Santal Region became a Province and later on, Darjeeling Region became an independent Province in 1997.

Under Frs. Noel D’Souza, Alphonse D’Souza and P.C. Mathew, Dhyan Ashram was developed as a Retreat House (1974), Novitiate (1975) and Juniorate (1984). Chitrabani was built on the premises of Prabhu Jisur Girja in 1979.

(The above material is mostly an abridged version from The Calcutta Province: A Short Historical Sketch, by Fr Yves de Steenhault. In Calcutta Jesuits, Year 36, No.2, [Sept.-Dec. 1990], pp.4-6).

The ordination to priesthood of the first Jesuit from Bangladesh, Fr. Ignatius Gomes, in the year 1989 was a significant milestone. Eventually, responding to the invitation by the bishops of Bangladesh and with the vision and initiative of the then Provincial Fr. P.C. Mathew, the Jesuits of Calcutta Province began to take keen interest in extending services in Bangladesh from mid 1990s. The Jesuit Residence was opened in 1994 in Dhaka. Today the Bangladesh Mission has about 30 Jesuits from Bangladesh including those in formation. The Mission has three formation houses, three schools, a retreat house and a parish to cater to.

A significant development during this period was to give importance to the local language and culture. Accordingly, the Scholastics would do their secular studies in Kolkata itself. For this purpose, a new Scholasticate named ‘Loyola Jesuit Study House’ was opened in 1990 in the premises of Prabhu Jisur Girja.

It was during this time that new impetus was given to the expansion and consolidation of the Santal Mission. ‘Loyola Jayanti Vidyapeeth’, the Boarding for Santal boys in Bankura, was opened in 1990. Gurap Mission Station and Boarding was opened in 1993 and St. Xavier’s Bengali Medium School there in 1994. Fr. Aelred Gomes became the Provincial in 1993.

St. Peter Claver Jesuit Residence in Ballygunge Place in Kolkata opened in 1995 is the office of the present Udayani Social Action Forum (1998), the Social Service Centre. Parasmani, the Bengal Regional Theology Centre began in 1997, has mainly been the brain child of Fr. George Pattery. It ran for 14 years until the emphasis tilted once again in favour of National Centres and the numbers began to dwindle, both staff and students.

It was during the tenure of Fr. Jerome Francis as Provincial (1999) that the New Prenovitiate Arunoday in Barasat began to function from 2001 and a new Santal Mission Station and Boarding began in Jhantipahari in 2004.

In 2005 Fr. George Pattery became the Provincial. Prabhu Jisur Girja became a parish in the same year. In the following year (2006), St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata became autonomous. Udayani Training Centre began in Pandua in the year 2008.

In 2009 Calcutta Province celebrated 150 years of Bengal Mission in a grand manner. In the same year, the Retreat House along with a Formation Centre (Prenovitiate) was opened in Kuchilabari, Bangladesh.

In 2010 Fr. Jeyaraj Veluswamy became the 7th Provincial of Calcutta Province. During this period much was invested in developing infrastructure and upgrading the status of higher education in the Province. Foundation was laid for St. Xavier’s University in Newtown, Kolkata in 2013 while St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata opened its rural campus in Raghabpur in 2014. In the same year 2014, St. Xavier’s College was established in Burdwan adjacent to the existing campus of the School. Marking a new chapter in the history of the Province, St. Xavier’s University was inaugurated in 2017 by the Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee.

Fr. Raphael Joseph Hyde became the 8th Provincial of Calcutta Province in 2017. New life was injected into Bangladesh Mission with a number of developmental projects in formation, educational and pastoral fields which involved a lot of financial assistance. St. Xavier’s International School was opened in Kuchilabari, Bangladesh in 2017, fulfilling a long-cherished dream. In 2022, Fr. Ripon Rozario became the Mission Superior of Bangladesh Mission. In the same year, in the month of July, Arrupe Niwas, the Novitiate, was opened in Mathbari, Bangladesh, and Fr. Ripon Rozario became the first Novice Master on 16th July.

In 2023, Fr. James Arjen Tete was appointed the 9th Provincial of Calcutta Province. The Jesuit Retreat House was opened in Mathbari (in the same campus of the Novitiate) in 2024. On 4th February 2025, Fr. General canonically established the Jesuit Community of Britto House in St. Xavier’s University Campus. Arunoday, the Jesuit Community at Barasat with the Prenovitiate was canonically established by Fr. General on 16th July 2025.
On 11th January 2026, St. Xavier’s International School was opened in Sapahar, Rajshahi Diocese, Bangladesh.