Christianity in Odisha

Followers of Christianity are a significant minority in Odisha state of India. According to the 2011 Census, Christians make up about 2.77% of the population (about 1,160,000 people).^[1] Kurukh, Sora, Kharia and Panos are notable ethnic groups with a significant Christian population.

The Cathedral Of The Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic cathedral belonging to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rourkela and one of the oldest church buildings in Rourkela.

History

Bible translations into Odia

The first version in the Odia language of India^[2] was translated by William Carey in 1808 and was distributed among pilgrims at Puri to introduce them to Christianity. Then came the standard version by Amos Sutton in the 1840s.^[3]

Demographics

Historical Christian Population Growth in Odisha

Year Pop. ±% 1951 141,934 —     1961 201,017 +41.6% 1971 378,888 +88.5% 1981 480,426 +26.8%	Year Pop. ±% 1991 666,220 +38.7% 2001 897,861 +34.8% 2011 1,161,708 +29.4%
Source: [4][5][6][7][8][9]

The Christians are mostly from the adivasi or tribal communities of the state with 8,16,981 Christians among STs and the major tribes are as below with number of Christians and percentage of Christians in each tribe.^[10]

Tribe	Christians	Percent
Munda	1,74,119	31.1%
Khond	1,59,783	9.8%
Oraon	1,49,866	41.8%
Soura	1,36,369	25.5%
Kharia	87,069	39.1%
Sabar	37,933	7.3%
Kisan	25,675	7.7%

Places with the largest proportions

The figures indicate % of Christians within the districts:^[11]

• Gajapati
  • Serango– 84%
  • Adava– 75%
  • R.Udayagiri– 50%

• Kandhamal
  • Brahmanigaon– 72%
  • Daringbadi– 64%
  • Kotagarh– 58%

• Sundargarh
  • Raiboga– 62%

• Rayagada
  • Puttasing– 80%
  • Chandrapur– 51%

Denominations

Church of God (Anderson), Evangelical Missionary Society in Mayurbhanj and Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church are among the Protestant denominations of Odisha.^[12] Christ Church the full Gospel Church, Gospel Outreach Ministries, India Evangelistic Association, Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade and The Pentecostal Mission are among the non-Catholic denominations of Odisha as well.^{[13] [14]} The Church of North India is present in Odisha as well with the dioceses of Cuttack, Phulbani, and Sambalpur. The diocese of Chota Nagpur also serves a small part of Odisha.^[15] and Christian Revival Church is also serving.

Influence on Culture and Society

Challenges and Issues

Roman Catholic Church

The archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar is Archbishop John Barwa. Its suffragan dioceses are:

• Balasore
• Berhampur
• Rourkela
• Sambalpur
• Rayagada

See also

• Christianity in India
• Christian Revival Church

References

1. "Indian Census 2011". Census Department, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
2. Subhakanta Behera Construction of an identity discourse: Oriya literature and the ... 2002 - this work misspells Carey from Odia script back into English as "William Kerry"
3. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions - Page 652 Gerald H. Anderson - 1999 The first Odia conversion was recorded in 1828. Sutton devoted himself to grammatical work on the Odia language and Bible translation. In 1841 he began training the first three Odia evangelists at Cuttack. By 1846 there were eight students"
4. "C-01: Population by religious community (2011)". Census India. Retrieved Sep 9, 2024.
5. "C-01: Population by religious community (2001)". Census India. Retrieved Sep 9, 2024.
6. "C-9 Religion (1991)". Census India. Retrieved Sep 9, 2024.
7. "Portrait of Population - Census 1981" (PDF). Retrieved Sep 12, 2024.
8. "Census Atlas, Vol-XII-Part IX-A, Orissa - Census 1961" (PDF). Census India. Retrieved Sep 13, 2024.
9. "General Population, Social and Cultural and Land Tables, Part II-A, Tables, Volume-XI, Orissa - Census 1951" (PDF). Census India. Retrieved Sep 13, 2024.
10. "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - Odisha". census.gov.in. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
11. Census India 2011
12. World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 369
13. World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 369-370
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-05-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "The Dioceses - The Church of North India". The Church of North India. Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2011-04-02.