The Roman Catholic Diocese of Jowai is a diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 located in the city of Jowai

Jowai

Jowai also known as Jwai is the headquarters of Jaintia Hills district of the state of Meghalaya in India. It is also to be noted that the Jaintia hills district is the first District to be solely demarcated in the state of Meghalaya on the year the state was formed on 1972.Jowai is the home of...

 in the Ecclesiastical province

Ecclesiastical Province

An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...

 of Shillong in India. In a land area of 3, 819 square kilometers, the diocesan territory covers the district of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya.

History

The Diocese of Jowai was erected on January 28, 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, and Father Vincent Kympat was appointed its first bishop. He was ordained on April 2, 2006 by the Apostolic Nuncio to India, Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana.

Statistics

As of December 31, 2008, Jowai diocese had 72,000 baptized Catholics, representing 26 percent of all 295,229 people in the territory. The diocese had 12 parishes and 20 mission stations. The diocese recorded 600 baptisms in 2008.

Leadership

• Bishop
  Bishop
  A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
  
  s of Jowai (Latin Rite)
  • Bishop Vincent Kympat
    Vincent Kympat
    Vincent Kympat was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jowai, India.Ordained to the priesthood in 1977, Kympat became bishop of the Jowai Diocese in 2006. He died in office....
    
    (January 28, 2006 – July 30, 2011)

Bishop Vincent Kympat was born December 17, 1946 in Moosutong in Shillong Diocese. He was ordained a priest on January 23, 1977 in the diocese of Shillong. He was appointed Bishop of Jowai on January 28, 2006 and was ordained on April 2, 2006. Before becoming a prelate Bishop Kympat was the chairman of Faith Formation Commission and Diocesan Coordinator for Small Christian Communities in the Archdiocese of Shillong.

He is presently the Chairman of Small Christian Communities Commission in North Eastern Regional Bishops' Council of India. He passed away on Saturday 30th July 2011.