|
On 21 August 2007, by his decree
Prot. No. 673/2007, Varkey Cardinal
Vithayathil, the Major Archbishop of
the Syro-Malabar Church erected the
eparchy of BHADRAVATHI, carving out
the entire civil district of Shimoga
from the territory of the diocese of
Mananthavady. Because of the great
distance from the diocesan
headquarters, the geographical,
linguistic and cultural differences
and the differences in the nature of
the apostolates undertaken, a
bifurcation of the diocese of
Mananthavady was felt to be a
genuine necessity and an urgent need
to ensure further growth and
development of the various regions
that constitute the territory of the
diocese of Mananthavady. With this
in view, successive Synods discussed
the proposal of the Bishops of the
diocese of Mananthavady and the XIV
Synod (2006), Session 1 gave its
approval for the proposal of the
division of the diocese and the
erection of a new diocese by name
Bhadravathi. The Holy See, through
its letter dated 25 January 2007,
Prot. No. 24/98 gave its assent to
the above proposal. Both the new
diocese and its bishop shall be
subject as suffragans to the
Metropolitan See of Tellicherry and
its Metropolitan. The newly erected
diocese of Bhadravathi has an area
of 10,553 sq.kms with a total
population of 16,39,595 of which
around 7000 are Catholics. There are
21 parishes and mission stations
looked after by 20 priests belonging
to the MCBS Congregation. There are
59 religious sisters belonging to 6
religious congregations in 14
convents doing ministry through 5
High Schools, 6 Upper Primary
Schools, 12 Nursery Schools, 22
Dispernsaries, 10 Student Hostels,
10 Tailoring Schools, and 12 Village
Clinics. The official inauguration
of the eparchy of Bhadravathi took
place on 25 October 2007 with the
ordination and enthronement of the
Bishop, Mar Joseph Arumachadath,
MCBS. |
