Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Tellicherry

Archdiocese of Tellicherry Archidioecesis Tellicherriensis
Location
Country	India
Ecclesiastical province	Tellicherry
Statistics
Area	4,902 km2 (1,893 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 3,810,000 307,682 (8.1%)
Information
Sui iuris church	Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Rite	East Syriac Rite
Cathedral	St Joseph's Cathedral in Palissery, Thalassery
Patron saint	Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Major Archbishop	George Alencherry
Archeparch	George Njaralakatt
Auxiliary Bishops	Joseph Pamplany
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thalassery (anglicised - Tellicherry) is an archeparchy of the Syro-Malabar Church in communion with the See of Rome. The boundaries of the Thalassery ecclesiastical province were extended to include Mangalore, Chickmangalore, Mysore, Shimoga and Ootty as there were settlers in the neighbouring States. The diocese covers an area of 18,000 km² and a Catholic population of 273,826. Since 2014, Mar George Njaralakatt is the Metropolitan Archbishop.

The ecclesiastical province of Thalassery came into existence on 31 December 1953 through the Papal bull Ad Christi Ecclesiam Regendam issued by Pope Pius XII. The boundaries of the new diocese were the same as those of the Latin Diocese of Calicut. But later, as Catholics of Syro - Malabar Church migrated even to the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the boundaries were extended to the present Latin Diocese of Mangalore, Chickmangalur, Mysore, Shimoga, and Ootacamund by a decree of the Holy See dated April 29, 1955.

Malabar migration

The history of the Malabar Migration and that of the ecclesiastical province of Thalassery are closely connected. The Thalassery diocese took up the struggle of the settlers, who were mostly Syriac Rite Catholics not accustomed to Roman Rite ceremonies. Petitions were sent to the Holy See by the Bishops of the settlers, who had migrated to the British Malabar since 1930, requesting for a diocese of their own. Cardinal Tisserant, the Prefect of the Oriental Congregation came to Malabar and personally saw the pitiable situation of the settlers. With the help of locals and priests, they started to make changes in the region.

Suffagran dioceses

• Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Belthangady
• Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Bhadravathi
• Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Mandya
• Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Mananthavady
• Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Thamarassery

Saints and causes for canonisation

• Fr. Armond Madhavath

See also

• Vimal Jyothi Engineering College, Chemperi
• Vimal Jyothi Institute of Management and Research, Chemperi
• Sacred Heart Schools, Angadikadavu

References

The Archdiocesan Curia, Directory of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Thalassery, Thalassery, 2000.

External links

• Archdiocese of Thalassery website
• Archdiocese of Thalassery -- Information & Photographs
• Archdiocese of Thalassery