On Friday, November 26, in a colorful, festive ceremony, the Most Rev. Lawrence Subrata Howlader, C.S.C., Archbishop of Chattogram received his pallium as Metropolitan Archbishop from the Most Rev. George Kocherry, Apostolic Nuncio. The ceremony and Mass were held on the grounds of St. Placid’s School and College, staffed by the Holy Cross Brothers and the oldest Holy Cross school in Bangladesh.

All of the bishops, representing the country’s eight dioceses, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh, and approximately 1,600 of the faithful were present for the event.

The Most Rev. Lumen Monteiro, Bishop of Agartala, represented the Indian bishops at the Mass. Also attending were Fr. George Kamal Rozario, C.S.C., Superior of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Province, Br. Subal Rozario, C.S.C., Superior of the St. Joseph Province, and several other Holy Cross religious. The ceremony was followed by a cultural program and meal.

Learn more about the ministries of Holy Cross in Bangladesh

Archbishop Howlader was installed as Archbishop on May 22 in a simple ceremony as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cathedral. He succeeds the late Most Rev. Moses Costa, C.S.C., who died on July 13, 2020.

The Diocese of Chittagong was canonically erected in 1927 and was elevated to a Metropolitan Archdiocese by Pope Francis on February 2, 2017. The Archdiocese renamed Chattogram in 2018, covers about one-third of the nation’s surface in the southern part of Bangladesh and has approximately 40,000 Catholics. Holy Cross Priests and Brothers staff both parishes and schools in the archdiocese.