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(Suffragans:
Kanjirapally, Kottayam, Palai, Thuckalay) |
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Archbishop
Mar Joseph Perumthottam
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Mar Joseph Powathil
Metropolitan Emeritus of
Changanacherry |
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Dioceses At a Glance |
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Patron |
St. Joseph |
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Area |
9500 sq. km. |
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Total Population |
12,50,000 |
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Catholics |
3,45,000 |
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Languages |
Malayalam |
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Revenue districts |
Alappuzha, Kottayam,
Pathanamthitta, Kollam and
Trivandrum |
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Former Bishops: |
| 1. |
Mar Charles Lavingne (1887 –
1896) |
| 2. |
Mar Mathew Makil
(1896-1911) |
| 3. |
Mar Thomas Kurialacherry
(1911-1925) |
| 4. |
Mar James Kalacherry
(1927-1949) |
| 5. |
Mar Mathew Kavukatt
(1950-1969) |
| 6. |
Mar Antony Padiyara
(1970-1985) |
| 7. |
Mar Joseph Powathil
(1985-2007) |
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A
Short History |
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On
28th July 1896 Pope
Leo XIII by his Bull “Quae Rei
Sacrae” reorganized the whole
territory of the then existing
two Vicariates Apostolic of
Trichur and Kottayam and created
three Vicariates in their place.
One of them was Changanacherry.
Mar Mathew Makil was appointed
as its Vicar Apostolic. On 21st
December 1923 as the Syro-Malabar
hierarchy was established
Changanacherry became a diocese.
On 25th July 1950 a
new diocese, Palai, was erected
bifurcating Changanacherry. In
1955 by the Papal Bull “Multorum
Fidelium” Changanacherry’s
territory was extended to
Kanyakumari. By the Bull “Regnum
Caelorum” of 26th
July 1956 it was made an
archdiocese with Palai and
Kottayam as its suffragan
dioceses. On 26th
February 1977 Changanacherry was
again divided and Kanjirapally
was erected. On 11th
November 1996 the territory in
the state of Tamil Nadu was
separated and the new diocese of
Thuckalay came into existence.
At present the archdiocese of
Changanacherry comprises the
civil districts of Alappuzha,
Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam
and Thiruvananthapuram in
Kerala. Since 1975 the mission
work in three civil districts of
the archdiocese of Agra in North
India is done by Changanacherry
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