The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Mananthavady is an

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, under the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It was established in 1973 by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

. It is a suffragan diocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Tellicherry, the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the diocese is

Jose Porunnedom Mar Jose Porunnedom (born 13 March 1956) is a Syro-Malabar Catholic bishop who currently serves as the bishop of Manathavady Diocese. He is the third bishop of Manathavady Diocese. Early life and episcopal career Jose Porunnedom was born at ...

History

The eparchy of Mananthavady was erected by Pope Paul VI, by the Bull Quanta Gloria of 1 March 1973 bifurcating the vast diocese of Tellicherry. The diocese of Tellicherry and Mananthavady were erected for the migrated peoples from the central Kerala. Population explosion and the shortage of food during the post-war period (1945-1960) induced them to migrate to the uninhabited fertile lands of northern Kerala and to some isolated pockets of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States. These places were filled with thick forests and under the threat of malaria and other diseases. The migrated people, being agrarian, risking their own life cleared the forests and settled themselves cultivating paddy, rubber, coconut, coffee, cashew, pepper etc... The eparchy of Mananthavady comprises the civil districts of Wayanad and parts of the civil districts of Malapuram and Kannur in Kerala, the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu and the districts of Chickmangalore, Hassan, Mandya, Mysore, and Chamarajnagar in Karnataka. Of these, the district of Mandya is entrusted to the pastoral care of the Missionary Society of St. Thomas (MST), the district of Hassan to the Congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) and the district of Chickmangalore to the Norbertine Fathers (O.Pream). The Catholic population is mainly concentrated in Kerala, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regions are considered Diaspora. The eparchy has an area of approximately 37, 697 km² and a population of 1,65,100 Syrian Catholics. At present there are 143 parishes, 17 independent stations and 37 mission stations.

Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy (born 13 December 1930) is an East Syriac Catholic Archbishop Emeritus, First Bishop of Mananthavady diocese, Second bishop of Thamarassery diocese and the second Metropolitan Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdioc ...

(archbishop emeritus of Thrissur) was consecrated as the first bishop of Mananthavady on 1 May 1973. After 22 years of able guidance, on 7 June 1995 he was transferred to the diocese of Thamarassery. The then Protosyncellus Msgr. Joseph Kaniamattam was appointed by the Major Archbishop as the Administrator of the eparchy on 27 July 1995. On 26 January 1997 Bishop Emmanuel Pothanamuzhy CMI was consecrated the second bishop of the eparchy. After the demise of Bishop Pothanamuzhy on 6 April 2003, Proto-syncellus Msgr. George Njaralakkatt was appointed the administrator of the eparchy. The present bishop Mar Jose Porunnedom was appointed on 18 March 2004 and was consecrated the third bishop of Mananthavady on 15 May 2004 and took charge of the office on the same day. The diocese of Mananthavady was bifurcated and new diocese namely Bhadravathi was erected on 21 August 2007. The bishop of the diocese of Bhadravathi is Mar Joseph Arumachadath MCBS. The diocese of Mananthavady was again bifurcated and a new diocese namely

Mandya Mandya is a city in the state of Karnataka. It is the headquarter of Mandya district and is located from Mysore and from Bangalore. Sugar factories contribute to the major economic output. It is also called Sugar city (which in Kannada mean ...

was erected on 18 January 2010. The first bishop of the newly erected diocese Mandya was Mar George Njaralakatt, the current archbishop of Tellicherry.

Bishops

(1 March 1973–18 May 1995) *

Mar Emmanuel Giles Pothanamuzhi Mar Emmanuel Giles Pothanamuzhi, C. M. I. (5 August 1932 – 6 April 2003) was a Syro-Malabar bishop. He was born in Nadukkara, near Muvattupuzha, India. He was ordained as a priest in the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in 1964. A botanist who lec ...

(11 November 1996–6 April 2003) *

Mar Jose Porunnedom Mar Jose Porunnedom (born 13 March 1956) is a Syro-Malabar Catholic bishop who currently serves as the bishop of Manathavady Diocese. He is the third bishop of Manathavady Diocese. Early life and episcopal career Jose Porunnedom was born at ...

(18 March 2004–''present'') *

Mar Alex Tharamangalam Mar, mar or MAR may refer to: Culture * Mar or Mor, an honorific in Syriac * Earl of Mar, an earldom in Scotland * MAA (singer) (born 1986), Japanese * Marathi language, by ISO 639-2 language code * March, as an abbreviation for the third mon ...

(Auxiliary Bishop)(1 November 2022–''present'')

Saints and causes for canonisation

* Fr. Armond Madhavath

References

External links

Diocese of Mananthavady
{{coord missing, Kerala

Mananthavady Mananthavady is a municipality and ''taluk'' in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. Etymology The popular view on the etymology is that the word is derived from "Maane Eytha Vady" (English: "The place where an arrow was shot at the deer"). T ...

Archdiocese of Tellicherry

Christian organizations established in 1973 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Dioceses in Kerala 1973 establishments in India