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Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Trichur

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Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Trichur
Coat of arms of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Trichur
Coat of arms
Location
CountryIndia
TerritoryThrissur district
MetropolitanThrissur
Statistics
Population
- Total
- Catholics
2,018,635
470,056
Parishes215
Churches251
Schools23
Members460,848
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchSyro-Malabar Church
RiteEast Syriac rite
Established20 May 1887
CathedralOur Lady of Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral,
Co-cathedralBasilica of Our Lady of Dolours
Patron saintOur Lady of the Immaculate Conception
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Major ArchbishopRaphael Thattil
Metropolitan ArchbishopAndrews Thazhath
Auxiliary BishopsTony Neelankavil
Vicar GeneralMsgr. Jose Vallooran, Msgr. Jose Konikkara
Bishops emeritusJacob Thoomkuzhy
Map
Website
www.trichurarchdiocese.org

The Archeparchy of Trichur, in Thrissur District of Central Kerala, India, with nearly half a million Syro-Malabar Catholics now, used to be the largest Catholic diocese in India when it included the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Irinjalakuda until 1978 and Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palghat until 1973. Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Irinjalakuda, also located in Thrissur District, has over a quarter million Syro-Malabar Catholics now. Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palghat in Central Kerala extends to some regions in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. In 2010, the parts of Tamil Nadu under the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palghat were separated to form another Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Ramanathapuram.

The Archeparchy of Trichur was founded on 20 May 1887 by Pope Leo XIII by his papal bull Quod Jam Pridem now covers an area of 2000 Sq.Km and has a Catholic population of about 460848. There are 16 Foranes under the Archeparchy of Trichur. The total number of parishes is 215. In addition, there are 36 stations in the archdiocese. Diocese of Ramanathapuram, Diocese of Irinjalakuda and Diocese of Palghat are the suffragan dioceses of the Archeparchy. Cardinal Mar Raphael Thattil is the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar Andrews Thazhath is the Metropolitan Archbishop, Mar Tony Neelankavil is the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese and Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy is the Archbishop Emeritus.

History

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The diocese was founded on 20 May 1887 by Pope Leo XIII by his papal bull Quod iam pridem. The boundaries of diocese were from Periyar (river) in Aluva to Bharathappuzha. Later it was extended to Palakkad district and extended to Coimbatore District in Tamil Nadu and was the largest Catholic diocese in India.

Role in education

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Rev. Medlycott has given a description about the state of facilities for education in the vicariate on his arrival in 1887 and on his return in 1896 as below:

The Vicariate of Trichur had a Catholic Syrian population of 108,422 with eighty-three parish churches and twenty-two chapels-of-ease, served by 118 priests of the Syrian Rite, besides 23 Syrian Carmelite Tertiary monks, in two monasteries; there was also a convent of 24 native Tertiary nuns with a middle-class school of 33 girls. The bishop on taking charge found that there were practically no schools, except one provided for clerics; he took early steps to open as many elementary parish schools as possible; within nine years (1888-96) the vicariate was provided with no less than 231 elementary parish schools for both sexes, educating over 12,000 children, besides a high school (St. Thomas's College), with 95 students; there were also 56 boys in St. Aloysius's High School, under the Tertiary monks.... plans were prepared to house the above college in a handsome structure. This was the condition of things when the bishop went to Europe on sick leave. [1]

Parishes and population

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The total number of parishes is 215. In addition, there are 36 stations in the archdiocese. The population of Syro-Malabar Catholics in Thrissur Archdiocese is about 4,60,848. There are 16 foranes under Thrissur Archdiocese. They are:

Serial No. Forane Parishes Stations Houses Catholic Population
1 Lourdes Cathedral 17 1 11746 59539
2 Dolours' Basilica 16 0 10095 54777
3 Chelakara 11 1 1615 8080
4 Erumapetty 11 1 2452 12285
5 Kandassankadavu 13 6 6933 39781
6 Kottekad 8 2 4994 26134
7 Mattom 8 5 3761 18471
8 Ollur 14 5 13372 63211
9 Palayur 14 2 5873 29696
10 Parappur 10 5 3783 17685
11 Pattikad 12 0 2609 13735
12 Pazhuvil 12 4 4425 24892
13 Pudukad 18 4 11038 61064
14 Puthur 10 0 3232 16040
15 Velur 13 2 3775 18528
16 Wadakkanchery 13 1 5174 26872

Suffragan dioceses

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Ordinaries

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Vicar Apostolic, Bishops and Archbishops

Sl.No Ordinary Designation Year of appointment Last year of service
1 Mar Adolph Medlycott Vicar Apostolic 1887 1896
2 Mar John Menachery Vicar Apostolic 1896 1919
3 Mar Francis Vazhapilly Bishop 1919 1944
4 Mar George Alapatt Bishop 1944 1970
5 Mar Joseph Kundukulam Archbishop 1970 1997
6 Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy Archbishop 1997 2007
7 Mar Andrews Thazhath Archbishop 2007 present

Auxiliary Bishops

Sl.No Ordinary Designation Year of appointment Last year of service
1 Mar Andrews Thazhath Auxiliary Bishop 2004 2007
2 Mar Raphael Thattil Auxiliary Bishop 2010 2017
3 Mar Tony Neelankavil Auxiliary Bishop 2017 present

Prelates Hailing From the archdiocese

Sl.No Ordinary Designation Year of appointment Last year of service
1 Mar Joseph Irimpen Former Bishop - Palghat 1974 1994
2 Mar James Pazhayattil Former Bishop - Irinjalakuda 1978 2010
3 Mar Paul Chittilapilly Former Bishop - Thamarassery 1988 2010
4 Mar Raphael Cheenath Former Archbishop - Cuttack–Bhubaneswar 1974 2011
5 Mar Clemens Thottungal C.M.I Former Bishop - Sagar 1977 1987
6 Mar Joseph Pastor C.M.I Former Bishop - Sagar 1987 2006
7 Mar Antony Chirayath Former Bishop - Sagar 2006 2018
8 Mar Bosco Puthur *Curial bishop - Syro malabar Church
* Former bishop - Melbourne and New Zealand
*Apostolic Administrator - Archdiocese of Ernakulam Angamaly 		2010 present
9 Mar Paul Alappatt Bishop - Ramanathapuram 2010 present
10 Mar Raphael Thattil Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church 2010 present
11 Mar Joseph Thykkattil Bishop – Gwalior 2019 present
12 Mar Franco Mulakkal Former Bishop – Jalandhar 2013 2023
13 Mar Antony Prince Panengaden Bishop – Shamshabad 2015 present
14 Mar Vincent Nellaiparambil Bishop – Bijnor 2019 present
15 Mar Thomas Anthony Vazhapilly Former Bishop – Mysore 2003 2017

Saints and causes for canonisation

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References

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  1. ^ Medlycott, A.E. (1912). Saint Thomas Christians in Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, Volume 14. Robert Appleton Company. pp. 678–688.
  2. ^ a b c "Saints & Blessed – CCBI". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Glorified Souls - Archdiocese of Trichur". www.trichurarchdiocese.org. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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