The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mysore ( la, Mysurien(sis)) is a suffragan Latin

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

, in the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

in southern India, yet depends on the missionary

Dicastery for Evangelization The Dicastery for Evangelization is a department (dicastery) of the Roman Curia. It was created on 5 June 2022 through the merger of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peop ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

episcopal see is St. Philomena's Cathedral in the city of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 105,113 Catholics (1.0% of 10,056,000 total) on 21,051 km² in 77 parishes with 157 priests (114 diocesan, 43 religious), 1,224 lay religious (309 brothers, 915 sisters) and 19 seminarians.

History

* Established on 16 March 1845 as a Pro-Vicariate of Mysore - Bangalore, on territory split off (depending on the source) either from the Apostolic Vicariate of Pondicherry or from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Madura and Coromandel Coast (now Diocese of Tiruchirapalli) * Promoted on 3 April 1850 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Mysore - Bangalore * Promoted on 1 September 1886 as Diocese of Mysore - Bangalore in the Ecclesiastical Metropolitan Province of Pondicherry * Lost territories repeatedly : on 12 June 1923 to establish Diocese of Calicut, on 26 May 1930 to establish Diocese of Salem, on 13 February 1940 to establish Diocese of Bangalore, on 3 July 1955 to establish Diocese of Ootacamund and on 16 November 1963 to establish Diocese of Chikmagalur.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

; until 1963 European members of a Latin missionary congregation) ;Apostolic Vicars of Mysore *

Étienne-Louis Charbonnaux Étienne-Louis Charbonnaux (20 March 1806 La Guerche-de-Bretagne France – 22 June 1873 Bangalore India) was a French missionary and the first vicar apostolic of Mysore, India. Early life Étienne-Louis Charbonneaux was born on 20 March 180 ...

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons de ...

(M.E.P.) (born France) (3 April 1850 – death 23 June 1873),

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of Iassus (8 July 1844 – 23 June 1873), previously as Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Verapoly (India) (8 July 1844 – 3 April 1850) * Joseph-Auguste Chevalier, M.E.P. (born France) (11 November 1873 – death 25 March 1880), Titular Bishop of Germanicopolis (11 November 1873 – 25 March 1880) * Jean-Yves-Marie Coadou, M.E.P. (born France) (20 August 1880 – 25 November 1886 ''see below''), Titular Bishop of Chrysopolis in Arabia (20 August 1880 – 1 September 1886) ;Suffragan Bishops of Mysore * Jean-Yves-Marie Coadou, M.E.P. (''see above'' 25 November 1886 – death 14 September 1890) * Eugène-Louis Kleiner, M.E.P. (born France) (14 September 1890 – retired 2 June 1910), succeeding as former Titular Bishop of

Lyrba Lyrbe (spelled Lyrba in the 1910 ''Catholic Encyclopedia''; grc, Λύρβη) was an ancient city and later episcopal see in the Roman province of Pamphylia Prima and is now a titular see.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vatica ...

(20 June 1890 – 14 September 1890) as Coadjutor Bishop of Mysore (20 June 1890 – 14 September 1890); on emeritate Titular Bishop of Tlous (17 June 1910 – death 19 August 1915) * Augustin-François Baslé, M.E.P. (born France) (2 June 1910 – death 13 September 1915), succeeding as former Titular Bishop of Calynda (15 December 1905 – 2 June 1910) as Coadjutor Bishop of Mysore (15 December 1905 – 2 June 1910) * Hippolyte Teissier, M.E.P. (born France) (4 September 1916 – death 26 February 1922) * Maurice-Bernard-Benoit-Joseph Despatures, M.E.P. (born France) (21 June 1922 – 13 February 1940); next Bishop of

(India) (13 February 1940 – 6 September 1942), emeritate as Titular Bishop of Benda (6 September 1942 – death 26 August 1963) * René-Jean-Baptiste-Germain Feuga, M.E.P. (born France) (3 April 1941 – retired 20 November 1962), stayed on as

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

20 November 1962 – 16 November 1963) while on emeritates as Titular Bishop of Fornos major (20 November 1962 – death 27 January 1964) *
Sebastião Francisco Mathias Fernandes
(first native incumbent) (16 November 1963 – death 9 May 1985)

(from 22 December 1986 until his death on 17 March 1993)

(19 December 1994 – retired 12 February 2003); died 2014

(12 February 2003 – retired 25 January 2017) * Kannikadass William Antony (25 January 2017– present; suspended on 7 January 2023)

Apostolic Administrator

* Bernard Moras (7 January 2023 – present)

References

External links

Mysore Diocese
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mysore, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India Christianity in Karnataka History of Mysore Religious organizations established in 1850 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century 1850 establishments in India