Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore
Pondicherien(sis) et Cuddaloren(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Puducherry, India
Latin-rite metropolitan archdiocese in Tamil Nadu, India, rooted in the 18th-century Karnatic Mission, made an apostolic vicariate on 1 September 1836 and raised to an archbishopric on 1 September 1886; it took its present name in 1953. Its seat is the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Pondicherry, with suffragans Dharmapuri, Kumbakonam, Salem, and Tanjore. Catholics number about 400,400 (2021).
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 7 August 1953
- Latin
- Pondicherien(sis) et Cuddaloren(sis)
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
- Annuario code
- 001002621
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 400,361
- Population
- 8,170,086
- Catholic share
- 4.9%
- Priests
- 234
- Catholics per priest
- 1,711
- Extent
- 15,250 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 26
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
- Francis Kalist
- Born
- 4 June 1957
- Birthplace
- Kanyakumari
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
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry stands in Puducherry, 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 Pondicherry and Cuddalore
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of DharmapuriDharmapuri
- Diocese of KumbakonamKumbakonam
- Diocese of SalemSalem
- Diocese of TanjoreTanjore
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Serving the faithful of Pondicherry and Cuddalore in India, this Latin metropolitan see of the Catholic Church carries the Latin title Archidioecesis Pondicheriensis et Cuddalorensis.
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].