Church of the Lord Jesus, Kolkata, wikimapia.org |
Church of the Lord Jesus (in Bengali: Prabhu Jisur Girja), located at Taltala, Kolkata, is a Catholic church. It was earlier a Church of Scotland, following Presbyterian form of worship. It was handed over to the Jesuits in 1969, who made it a centre of various apostolic activities. It was constructed in 1848 by the Church of Scotland
In the 18 an 19th centuries innumerable European missionaries made a bee line to India with a view to spreading Christianity among the natives. Further, the Colonial government stopped restricting the functioning of the missionaries. In the beginning of the 19th century Alexander Duff, a Presbyterian Scottish missionary, arrived in Calcutta on a mission to spread the Scottish tradition of Christian worship. In 1843 a serious rift over the religious matter divided the Church of Scotland and its repercussions were felt across the globe and India was not an exception. In the aftermath of this unexpected and unwarranted crack in the Church of Scotland a new ‘Free Church of Scotland’ was born. Consequently in Calcutta the new ‘Free’ church had is its place of worship built on Wellesley Street.
At last a compromise was made and the two Presbyterian churches reconciled and formed a new union in 1929 as a consequence of which the Wellesley street church lost its importance in terms of divinity and sanctity. The two, once warring congregations, became one religious unit choosing the St. Andrew's Church as their place of worship.
In 1969 the Wellesley church and attached buildings were handed over to the Jesuit fathers who give it the Bengali name of ‘Prabhu Jisur Girja’ (Church of the Lord Jesus). It became a center of various apostolic and pastoral activities. Most of the religious activities, services in this church are in the Bengali language. There is a huge library on the church premises, catering to the needs of the public, in particular, to students.
Before 2005, the vast church was a 'public oratory' which was later converted to a parish of the Archdiocese of Calcutta.
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Lord_Jesus_