Archdiocese of Calicut
Calicuten(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Calicut, India
The Archdiocese of Calicut is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese centered on Kozhikode (Calicut) in Kerala, India, elevated from diocese to archdiocese in April 2025 with Kannur and Sultanpet as suffragan dioceses. Its seat is the Mother of God Cathedral in Kozhikode, and Varghese Chakkalakal was named its first archbishop.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 12 April 2025
- Latin
- Calicuten(sis)
- Patron
- St Francis Xavier
- Annuario code
- 001001021
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 38,092
- Population
- 10,061,127
- Catholic share
- 0.4%
- Priests
- 184
- Catholics per priest
- 207
- Extent
- 12,505 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 3.0
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Archbishop
- Varghese Chakkalakal
- Born
- 7 February 1953
- Birthplace
- Malapallipuram
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Mother of God Cathedral, Kozhikode stands in Calicut, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Calicut
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of KannurKannur
- Diocese of SultanpetSultanpet
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
A Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese in India, Calicut (Latin: Archdioecesis Calicuten(sis)) heads an ecclesiastical province whose suffragan dioceses are the Kannur and Sulthanpet, while itself depending on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its cathedral, Mother of God Cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady, stands in the episcopal see of Kozhikode (Calicut).
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].