Archdiocese of Verapoly
Verapolitan(us)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Verapoly, India
The Archdiocese of Verapoly is the Latin Catholic metropolitan see for Malabar, headquartered in Cochin, Kerala, India. Originating as the Vicariate of Malabar in 1657 and raised to an archdiocese in 1886, it oversees the suffragan dioceses of Cochin, Kottapuram, and Vijayapuram.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1 September 1886
- Latin
- Verapolitan(us)
- Patron
- Saint Joseph
- Annuario code
- 001000088
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 369,840
- Population
- 3,908,084
- Catholic share
- 9.5%
- Priests
- 382
- Catholics per priest
- 968
- Extent
- 1,500 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 247
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
- Joseph Kalathiparambil
- Born
- 6 October 1952
- Birthplace
- Vaduthala
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. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Ernakulam, Cochin stands in Verapoly, 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 Verapoly
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of CochinCochin
- Diocese of KottapuramKottapuram
- Diocese of VijayapuramVijayapuram
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Headquartered at the city of Cochin in the south Indian state of Kerala, the Archdiocese of Verapoly (Malayalam: വരാപ്പുഴ അതിരൂപത, Latin: Archidioecesis Verapolitana) is a Latin Church territory serving the Latin Catholics of Malabar. Under its administrative care stand the suffragan dioceses of Cochin, Kottapuram, and Vijayapuram. The headquarters lies in Kochi along the Malabar Coast in India. The see began as the Vicariate Apostolic of Malabar in 1657 and was raised to a metropolitan see in 1886. The name Verapoly is the anglicised form of Varapuzha.
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].