The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar ( la, Kottaren(sis), ta, கோட்டாறு மறைமாவட்டம்) is a Latin rite

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

in the ecclesiastical province of, Kottar, Kanyakumari District, southern India yet depends on the missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Its episcopal see is Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier at Kottar in the town of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. It was built by

St. Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 15 ...

in 1544 AD, rebuilt in 1603 over the small chapel original chapel, expanded in both 1713 and 1806.

Antecedents

The Kottar parish was a constituent of Malabar Vicariate since 1657 AD and came under

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly The Archdiocese of Verapoly (Verapolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church, composed of Latin Catholics of Malabar and headquartered at the city of Cochin, in the south Indian state of Kerala. Th ...

. Again it became the southern center of

Diocese of Quilon The Diocese of Quilon is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church based in the southern Indian city of Kollam. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Trivan ...

at its erection in 1853 AD.

Saints and causes for canonisation

Devasahayam Pillai Devasahayam Pillai (born Neelakanta Pillai and baptized as Lazarus; 23 April 1712 – 14 January 1752) was an Indian layman and martyr of the Catholic Church.

, a lay martyr of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

faith, was born (1712 AD) and martyred (1752 AD) here. His remains are buried in the cathedral of the diocese.

History

* Established on 26 May 1930 as Diocese of Kottar / Kottaren(sis) (Latin), on territory split off from the

. * Due to linguistic reasons as per reorganization of States, Kottar diocese was formally detached from the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Verapoly The Archdiocese of Verapoly (Verapolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church, composed of Latin Catholics of Malabar and headquartered at the city of Cochin, in the south Indian state of Kerala. T ...

(in Kerala) and made suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai (Tamil Nadu) instead in 1963. * Lost territory on 2014.12.22 to establish the

Diocese of Kuzhithurai The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kuzhithura is a diocese located in Tamil Nadu. It was erected on 22 December 2014 by Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December ...

Episcopal ordinaries

;''Suffragan Bishops of Kottar'' (all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

natives) * ?Aloysius Benziger * Lorenzo (Lawrence) Pereira (26 May 1930 – death 7 January 1938) * Thomas Roch Agniswami, Society of Jesus (S.J.) (5 January 1939 – retired 23 November 1970), died 1974 * Marianus Arokiasamy (23 November 1970 – 3 July 1987), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Madurai (India) (1987.07.03 – retired 2003.03.22), also vice-president of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (1991 – 1993 & 1994 – 1996), President of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (1997 – 1999), died 2007 * Leon Augustine Tharmaraj (14 November 1988 – death 16 January 2007) * Peter Remigius (30 June 2007 – retired 20 May 2017.05.20), previously Bishop of

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

(Tamil Nadu, India) (1989.11.10 – 2007.06.30) * Nazarene Soosai (2017.05.20 – ...), nor previous prelature

Statistics

As per 2017, it pastorally serves 307,104 Catholics on 750 km² in 95 parishes with 243 priests (208 diocesan, 35 religious), 480 lay religious (35 brothers, 445 sisters) and 42 seminarians.

References

Sources and external links

*
GCatholic, with Google satellite photo - data for all sections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kottar, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India

Religious organizations established in 1930 Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century

Christianity in Tamil Nadu Christianity in the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest religion in the state. According to tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed in Malabar Coast (modern day Kerala) in AD 52. In the colonial age many Por ...