Diocese of Tuticorin Dioecesis Tuticorensis தூத்துக்குடி மறைமாவட்டம் | |
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Location | |
Country | India |
Ecclesiastical province | Madurai |
Metropolitan | Madurai |
Deaneries | 5 |
Statistics | |
Area | 6,440 km2 (2,490 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2011) 2,590,000 621,820 (26.3%) |
Parishes | 120 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Latin Rite |
Established | 12 June 1923 |
Cathedral | Sacred Heart Cathedral in Thoothukudi |
Patron saint | Saint Francis Xavier Saint Thérèse of Lisieux |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Most Rev Dr Stephen Antony Pillai |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Most Rev Dr.Antony Pappusamy |
Vicar General | Fr Panneer Selvam N.A. |
Bishops emeritus | Rev. Dr. Yvon Ambroise |
Website | |
Website of the Diocese |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin (Latin: Tuticoren(sis)) is a unit (or 'particular Church') of the Catholic Church in the city of Tuticorin, part of the ecclesiastical province of Madurai in India.
The diocese of Tuticorin comprises the major part of the Tuticorin district, nearly half of the Nellai district and a small portion of the Kanyakumari district. The Catholics of this area trace their origin to the time of St. Francis Xavier who spent most of his missionary life in this area. Separated from the diocese of Tiruchirapalli, Tuticorin was created as a diocese and entrusted to the diocesan clergy in 1923 by the Apostolic Brief "Quae Catholico Nomini" of Pope Pius XI. It was entrusted to the indigenous clergy with Rt. Rev. Francis Tiburtius Roche s.j., as its first bishop. He was also the first Indian bishop of the Latin Rite. The patrons of the diocese are St. Francis Xavier and St. Teresa of the Child Jesus.
Five Vicariates are present in the Tuticorin diocese. Vicariates and Forane Churches are: