India—1

India is one of the world’s oldest civilizations.  Europeans colonized portions of India in the 16th Century, including the Portuguese at Goa in 1510.  By the 19th Century, the British took control of India and it became one of England’s most important colonies.  India gained independence in 1947 before separating into the separate nations of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Tradition holds that St. Thomas the Apostle brought the Catholic Faith to India in the First Century (St. Bartholomew the Apostle may also have come to India). European missionaries visited in the 16th Century and found native Indians practicing a form of Catholicism.  These missionaries included Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and especially Jesuits.  The great Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier, came to Goa in 1542 and is buried there.

The population of India is 1.3 billion and 80 percent are Hindu.  Another 14 percent are Muslim and just over 2 percent are Christian.  There are about 20 million Catholics, mostly in Southern India, at least 10 million Protestants, and about 4 million Orthodox Christians.  Indian Catholics belong to one of three liturgical rites:  Roman, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankar.

Most Catholics in the world belong to the Latin or Roman rite.  Rite refers to liturgical practices, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual heritage.  Many Catholics belong to one of two dozen Eastern rite churches—including the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar churches.

Syro-Malabar Catholics are the descendants of the St. Thomas Christians.  European missionaries converted them from a 5th Century heresy related to the human and divine natures of Jesus.  There are 4 million Syro-Malabar Catholics in India today.  Syro-Malankar Catholics broke away from the Malankara Orthodox Church in 1930 and today number 400,000 in India.

This blog will cover nine Roman-rite provinces in southern India.

Province of Goa and Daman

The province consists of the State of Goa, the Union Territory of Daman and Diu, and part of the State of Maharashtra.  The Diocese of Goa was established in 1533 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1558.  It attained its current name in 1928, before being demoted to an archdiocese in 1976.  It once again became a metropolitan archdiocese in 2006.  The Archbishops of Gao and Daman were given the title, Patriarch of the East Indies, by Pope Leo XIII in 1886. 

The Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Old Goa (also known as Se Cathedral) was built by the Portuguese between 1562 and 1619.  The Cathedral is built in a Portuguese-Manueline style with a Tuscan exterior and a Corinthian interior.  It originally had two towers, but one collapsed in 1776.  The main altar has six gilded panels depicting the life of St. Catherine.  The Cathedral also has a large bell that is reputed to be one of the best in the world.  The Chapel of the Cross of Miracles is on the site where a vision of Christ is said to have appeared in 1619.  A baptismal font from 1532 was used by St. Francis Xavier to baptize many Indian converts—St. Francis is buried in another church in Goa.  The Cathedral is one of the largest churches in Asia, measuring 250 feet long, 181 feet wide, and 115 feet tall.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Holy Jesus (Bom Jesus) in Daman was built in 1603 but is no longer a cathedral.  Pope Pius XII declared the church to be a minor basilica in 1946.

The Province has one suffragan diocese.

• The Diocese of Sindhudurg was created in 2005.

Province of Madras and Mylapore

The province is in the northern part of the State of Tamil Nadu.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore became as an apostolic prefecture in 1642, became an apostolic vicariate in 1642, and was promoted to a metropolitan archdiocese in 1886.

St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica is in Chennai (also known as Madras).  St. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have preached the Gospel in India between A.D. 52 and his martyrdom in A.D. 72.  The Portuguese built a church on the site of his martyrdom and tomb in 1547.  The British replaced this church with the current church in 1893.  The neo-Gothic Cathedral has stained-glass windows depicting St. Thomas’ life, 13th Century wall plaques, a 16th Century stone sundial, and a 450-year-old Madonna made in Portugal.  The chapel in the basement contains relics of St. Thomas and the lance that killed him.  Pope Pius XII honored the Cathedral as a minor basilica in 1956.

All pictures are from Wikipedia

The Co-Cathedral of St. Mary of the Angels in Chennai was built by the Capuchins in the 17th Century and served as the archdiocesan cathedral from 1886 to 1952.

As noted.

The Province has four suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Coimbatore was created as an apostolic vicariate in 1850 and became a diocese in 1886.
• The Diocese of Vellore was created in 1952.
• The Diocese of Ootacamund was created in 1955.
• The Diocese of Chingleput was created in 2002.

Province of Verapoly

The province consists of the northern part of the State of Kerala.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Verapoly was established as the Apostolic Vicariate of Malabar in 1659 and became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Verapoly in 1886.  St. Francis Assisi Cathedral in Ernakulam (Kochi) was built between 1977 and 1981.

Both pictures are from blogspot.com.

The Province has six suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Cochin was created in 1558, was suppressed in 1838, and restored in 1886.
• The Diocese of Calicut was created in 1923.
• The Diocese of Vijayapuram was created in 1930.
• The Diocese of Kottapuram was created in 1987.
• The Diocese of Kannur was created 1998.
• The Diocese of Sultanpet was created in 2013.

Province of Pondicherry and Cuddalore

The province consists of the central part of the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore was established in 1776 as the Mission sui juris of Coromandel Coast.  It became the Apostolic Vicariate of Pondicherry in 1836 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1887.

Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Pondicherry was originally built by Jesuits in 1689 when Pondicherry was a French colony, but the Dutch destroyed it the next year.  A second church was built in 1699, but it was replaced by a larger church in 1736.  The British destroyed this church in 1761. The current church was built between 1765 and 1791.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

The Province has four suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Kumbakonam was created in 1899.
• The Diocese of Salem was created in 1930.
• The Diocese of Tanjore was created in 1952.
• The Diocese of Dharmapuri was created in 1997.

Province of Bangalore

The province consists of the State of Karnataka.  The Diocese of Bangalore was created in 1940 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1953.

St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Bangalore was built between 1911 and 1932 and has two domed towers.  The building is made of granite with concrete roofing covered with Mangalore tiles.  The Cathedral is 160 feet wide and can hold 5,000 people. The floor is made of white and red granite. The stained glass windows depict the mysteries of the Rosary and other biblical themes.  See sfxcathedralbangalore.in.

Both pictures are from Wikipedia.

The Province has nine suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Mangalore was established as an apostolic vicariate in 1674 before being suppressed in 1700.  It once again became an apostolic vicariate in 1845 and a diocese in 1886.
• The Diocese of Mysore was established as an apostolic vicariate in 1850 and became a diocese in 1886.
• The Diocese of Bellary was established as a Mission sui juris in 1928 and was promoted to a diocese in 1949.
• The Diocese of Belgaum was established in 1953.
• The Diocese of Chikmagalur was established in 1963.
• The Diocese of Karwar was established in 1976.
• The Diocese of Shimoga was established in 1988.
• The Diocese of Gulbarga was established in 2005.
• The Diocese of Udupi was established in 2012.

Province of Hyderabad

The province consists of the States of Telangana and western Andhra Pradesh.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hyderabad began as an apostolic vicariate in 1851, became a diocese in 1886, and a metropolitan archdiocese in 1953.

St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hyderabad was constructed in the early 1870s and seats 500.  The façade and bell towers were added in 1891.  The five bells in the bell tower were made in Italy.  The Cathedral has an imitation of Michelangelo’s Pieta.  Other art work includes marble statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Anthony, an oil painting of the Madonna and Child, and bas-relief Stations of the Cross.  See stjosephcathedral.in.

Picture from Wikipedia.  See the Cathedral website for more pictures.

The Province has six suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Warangal was created in 1952.
• The Diocese of Kurnool was created in 1967.
• The Diocese of Nalgonda was created in 1976.
• The Diocese of Cuddapah was created in 1976.
• The Diocese of Khammam was created in 1988.
• The Syro-Malabar Diocese of Adilabad was created in 1999.

Province of Madurai

The province is in the southern part of Tamil Nadu civil province.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Madurai began as a diocese in 1938 before being promoted to a metropolitan archdiocese in 1953.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows in Madurai was built between 1912 and 1916 in a Gothic style.  The Cathedral was expanded in the 1960s and has two spires and a marble altar.  See maduraiarchdiocese.weebly.

The top picture is from the local tourist board and the bottom picture is from Panaramio.

The Province has seven suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Tiruchirapalli was established in 1606 as a Mission sui juris, but was suppressed in 1773.  It became an apostolic vicariate in 1836 and a diocese in 1886.
• The Diocese of Tuticorin was established in 1923.
• The Diocese of Kottar was established in 1930.
• The Diocese of Palayamkottai was established in 1973.
• The Diocese of Sivagangai was established in 1987.
• The Diocese of Dindigul was established in 2003.
• The Diocese of Kuzhithurai was established in 2014.

Province of Visakhapatnam

The province consists of the eastern part of the State of Andhra Pradesh.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Visakhapatnam began as an apostolic pro-vicariate in 1845, became an apostolic vicariate in 1850, a diocese in 1886 before being promoted to a metropolitan archdiocese in 2001.

Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Visakhapatnam was completed in 1981 and became the Archdiocesan cathedral in 1986.  See archdioceseofvisakhapatnam.org.

See www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMVbZIAyLbI


St. Anne’s Co-Cathedral in Visakhapatnam traces its origins to a 1770 house church—the first Catholic church in the city.  The current church was completed in 1854 and became the Cathedral for the Diocese.  It became the Co-Cathedral in 1986.

From the Archdiocesan website.

The Province has five suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Nellore was established in 1928.
• The Diocese of Vijayawada was established as a Mission sui juris in 1933 before becoming a diocese in 1937.
• The Diocese of Guntur was established in 1940.
• The Diocese of Eluru was established in 1976.
• The Diocese of Srikakulam was established in 1993.

Province of Trivandrum

The province consists of southern Kerala civil province.  The Diocese of Trivandrum was established in 1937 and became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Trivandrum in 2004.

The Cathedral of St. Joseph in Trivandrum began as a parish church in 1873, but has been enlarged.  The Gothic façade and bell tower were added in 1927.  The bell tower has three bells that were made in Belgium.  Renovations were done between 2008 and 2010 when the church was painted white, rather than red.  See stjosephmetropolitancathedraltrivandrum.org.

Pictures are from the Archdiocesan website, Panaramio, and Wikipedia.

The Province has four suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Alleppey was created in 1952.
• The Diocese of Neyyattinkara was created in 1996.
• The Diocese of Punalur was created in 1985.
• The Diocese of Quilon was created in 1329, but suppressed in 1533.  It was restored as an apostolic vicariate in 1845 and once again became a diocese in 1886.

Definitions

The Catholic Church is mostly divided into ecclesiastical provinces—a province consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and one or more dioceses.  The province and the archdiocese are led by an archbishop.  Each of the dioceses is called a suffragan diocese and is led by a bishop.  Archbishops have some responsibilities for the province, but all bishops answer directly to the Pope.  There are also jurisdictions below the level of a diocese.  These include apostolic pro-vicariates, apostolic vicariates, and apostolic prefectures.  All are missionary territories below the level of a diocese.  There is also a jurisdiction called a mission sui juris.  A mission sui juris may be part of a province and is often administered by a bishop of another diocese.

A basilica is an honorary title bestowed on a church by the Pope because of the church’s antiquity, dignity, historical importance, or significance as a center of worship.  Some cathedrals are also basilicas.  Each basilica has a ceremonial umbrella in the papal colors of white and yellow and a ceremonial bell.  Both of these are symbolic of the Pope’s special relationship to the basilica.