Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Palayamkottai

Palayamkottaien(sis)

Latin-rite diocese in Tamil Nadu, India, erected 17 May 1973 from the Archdiocese of Madurai, of which it is a suffragan. Its seat is St. Xavier's Cathedral in Palayamkottai, serving about 123,800 Catholics (2004). The see is vacant following the end of Bishop Antonysamy Savarimuthu's tenure in July 2025.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
17 May 1973
Latin
Palayamkottaien(sis)
Annuario code
001002515

The see in figures

Catholics
123,789
Population
2,652,273
Catholic share
4.7%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
137
Catholics per priest
904
Extent
6,102 km²
Catholics per km²
20

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

Bishop
Antonysamy Savarimuthu
Born
8 December 1960
Birthplace
Vadakku Vandanam

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

St. Xavier's Cathedral, Palayamkottai stands in Palayamkottai, 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 Madurai

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Madurai.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Located in the city of Palayamkottai in India, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Palayamkottai (Latin: Palayamkottaien(sis)) forms part of the ecclesiastical province of Madurai.

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.

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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].