Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar

Diocese of Kottar Dioecesis Kottarensis கோட்டாறு மறைமாவட்டம்
Cathedral of St Francis Xavier, The Mother Church of the Diocese
Location
Country	India
Ecclesiastical province	Madurai
Metropolitan	Madurai
Statistics
Area	1,665 km² (643 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 1,720,250 477,174 (27.7%)
Parishes	170
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	26 May 1930
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Francis Xavier in Kottar
Patron saint	St. Francis Xavier
Current leadership
Pope	His Holiness Francis
Bishop	Peter Remigius
Metropolitan Archbishop	Peter Fernando
Vicar General	Solomon S.
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar (Latin: Kottaren(sis)) is a diocese located at Kottar in the city of Nagercoil in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu. It comes under the Ecclesiastical province of Madurai in India.

History

Kottar Christian community was an important constituent of Malabar Vicariate since 1657 AD and came under Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly. The Christian Martyr Devasahayam Pillai was born and martyred here then. Again it became the southern center of Diocese of Quilon when it was formed in 1853 AD. Diocese of Kollam was again bifurcated and the Diocese of Kottar was established on May 26, 1930 AD. Due to linguistic reasons as per reorganization of States, Kottar diocese was formally detached from Archdiocese of Verapoly (Kerala) and attached with Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai (Tamil Nadu) in 1963 AD.

Oldest churches

Amalagiri church dedicated to Mother Mary in Thiruvithancode built by Thomas the Apostle in 57 AD.^[1] It is also called Thiruvithamcode Arappally which is, however, under the administration of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church at present.
St. Xavier′s Church, Kottar -the Cathedral Church of Kottar diocese built in 1600 AD, over the small chapel originally built by St. Francis Xavier in 1544 AD.

Leadership

Bishops of Kottar (Latin Rite)
- Bishop Peter Remigius (June 30, 2007 – present)
- Bishop Leon Augustine Tharmaraj (November 14, 1988 – January 16, 2007)
- Bishop Marianus Arokiasamy (later Archbishop) (November 23, 1970 – July 3, 1987)
- Bishop Thomas Roch Agniswami, S.J. (January 5, 1939 – November 23, 1970)
- Bishop Lorenzo Pereira (May 26, 1930 – January 7, 1938)

References

↑ Dr. Issac Arul Dhas G, `Kumari Mannil Christhavam` (Tamil), Scott Christian College, Nagercoil, 2010, ISBN 978-81-8465-204-8. Page7.

External links

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