Archdiocese of Verapoly

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Archdiocese of Verapoly
Basic data
Country India
Diocesan bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil
Emeritus diocesan bishop Francis Kallarakal
surface 1,500 km²
Parishes 180 (2017 / AP 2018 )
Residents 3,534,985 (2017 / AP 2018 )
Catholics 348,465 (2017 / AP 2018 )
proportion of 9.9%
Diocesan priest 184 (2017 / AP 2018 )
Religious priest 146 (2017 / AP 2018 )
Catholics per priest 1,056
Friars 209 (2017 / AP 2018 )
Religious sisters 1.120 (2017 / AP 2018 )
cathedral St. Francis Assisi Cathedral
Website official website

The Archdiocese of Verapoly ( Latin Archidioecesis Verapolitana , English Archdiocese of Verapoly ) is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in India , in the district of Ernakulam and Thrissur , in the state of Kerala ( India ). The bishopric has been in Ernakulam / Kochi since 1904 .

history

origin

The Archdiocese of Verapoly has its origins in the Apostolic Vicariate of Malabar (in today's Kerala), whose foundation is closely related to the reunification of the Chaldean rite of Thomas Christians with the Roman Catholic Church.

Roman Catholics and Thomas Christians were cared for in southern India from 1597 onwards by the Latin Archbishop of Angamaly (based in Kodungallur), who was under Portuguese patronage . The Latin shepherds helped overcome the heresy of Nestorianism.

Under Archbishop Francis Garcia von Angamaly there was a revolt of the Thomas Christians, because this u. a. a vicar general of the Latin rite. Thomas Christians swore at the Coonan Cross in Cochin in 1653 that they would never again tolerate a foreign rite over them. The majority of the Thomas Christians joined the uprising.

The Carmelite Father Joseph of S. Maria de Sebastiani, OCD, was sent from Rome as a mediator. With the help of local priests, he succeeded in bringing the majority of the Thomas Christians back under the legitimate authority of Archbishop Francis Garcia of Angamaly-Kodungallur. When Archbishop Francis Garcia died in 1659, Father Sebastiani succeeded him in 1661, but only as titular archbishop and administrator of the Archdiocese of Angamaly, which was located in Kodungallur .

Archbishop Sebastiani had to leave his diocese as early as 1663 because the Dutch had defeated the Portuguese on the Malabar coast and expelled him as a Catholic prelate. In order not to leave the Thomas Christians who had just been regained without their own pastors, he consecrated the Indian priest Alexander de Campo (also Chandy Parambil) as titular bishop of Megara on January 31, 1663, shortly before his forced departure, and appointed him apostolic with papal permission Vicar of Malabar.

Apostolic Vicariate Malabar became a permanent institution, from which a dual jurisdiction developed in South India, Padrovado and Propaganda Find.

After his death in 1687, Bishop de Campo's successor as Apostolic Vicar of Malabar was the Latin Indo-Portuguese Raphael de Figueredo-Salgrado, who died in 1695. The Archdiocese of Verapoly is known throughout history as the "mother church" of Kerala.

The Vicariate of the Roman Congregation for Propaganda

The Dutch had initially expelled all European Catholic priests from their territory, but gradually limited themselves to those of Portuguese nationality or dependency. Therefore, the Propaganda Congregation in Rome decided on January 11, 1700 to continue the Apostolic Vicariate of Malabar under their suzerainty. The purpose was the presence of a non-Portuguese bishop, tolerated by the colonial authorities, in the Dutch-Indian territories , as a replacement for the originally responsible Portuguese-dependent bishops of Angamaly-Kodungallur (mainly Catholic Thomas Christians) and Cochin (mainly Latin Catholics). In the background, the Roman decision certainly also played a role in the desire to weaken the complete dependence of the Indian Church on Portugal, which is why the jurisdiction of the Malabar Vicariate was later handled quite generously and, for example, also included areas in which only the local rulers rejected the Portuguese prelate faced.

The Vicariate was entrusted to the Discalced Carmelites and the first Vicar Apostolic under the responsibility of the Roman Propaganda Congregation was Father Angelo Francis of St. Teresa OCD (ordained bishop on May 22, 1701 and deceased on October 17, 1712). During his reign, the vicariate was given the official name "Verapoly" on March 13, 1709 because the seat was established there. Verapoly, now Varapuzha, is an island suburb of Kochi in Kerala and the oldest Carmelite settlement in southern India. The residence of the Apostolic Vicars was the local Carmelite monastery or the Mount Carmel Church.

Dual jurisdiction

Independently of the Vicariate of Verapoly, the Portuguese insisted on their historical rights and reoccupied their old bishopric Angamaly-Kodungallur and Cochin, a situation that led to constant tension and great nuisance. The Portuguese bishops could not reside at their episcopal seats and only supply their districts - mostly through agents - in particular. However, they clung to the old jurisdictions with great tenacity. As soon as they were able to reach one or the other parish in the Vicariate Verapoly again due to changing political circumstances, they immediately took possession of them and drove out the Carmelites. Sometimes the jurisdictions of individual municipalities changed several times within a few years.

With the bull "Multa Praeclara" Pope Gregory XVI. on April 24, 1838 the Portuguese dioceses Angamaly-Kodungallur (also called Cranganore) and Cochin and subordinated all local Catholics, both rites, without exception to the Apostolic Vicariate Verapoly. This officially ended the dual jurisdiction in Malabar, but in fact the so-called Goanese schism now developed , as Portugal continued to maintain its old dioceses without papal legitimation and endowed them with bishops. This state of affairs was only ended in 1862.

The large vicariate of Verapoly was divided on May 12, 1845 again into the three independent vicariates Verapoly (central area), Mangalore (northern area) and Quilon (southern area).

Archdiocese

On September 1, 1886, Pope Leo XIII. Verapoly to the ordinary archdiocese. At the same time, 34 Latin parishes were separated from it or from Quilon and thus restored the old diocese of Cochin , which was no longer under Portuguese sovereignty.

By virtue of the papal bull "Quod Jam Pridem" Leo XIII freed. on May 20, 1887 the Catholic Thomas Christians from the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Verapoly and founded the two independent vicariates Kottayam and Trichur for them . From this point on, Verapoly was a purely Latin diocese.

In 1904, the bishopric was moved to the nearby city of Ernakulam while retaining the name Verapoly .

On July 14, 1930, the diocese of Vijayapuram was separated from the Archdiocese of Verapoly, and on July 3, 1987, the diocese of Kottapuram .

Ecclesiastical province

diocese Catholics Pop., Total
Archdiocese of Verapoly 00348,465 003,534,985
Diocese of Calicut 00048,250 008,059,057
Diocese of Cochin 00175.473 000618,890
Diocese of Kannur 00054,652 002,874,064
Diocese of Kottapuram 00093,655 003,484,538
Sultanpet Diocese 00086,827 002,809,934
Diocese of Vijayapuram 00091,861 004,226,601
Verapoly Church Province 00899.183 025,617,069

Ordinaries

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Father Bernard of St. Thomas TOCD: A brief sketch of the History of the St. Thomas Christians. St. Joseph's Press, Trichinopolly, 1924, p. 65.
  2. ↑ Varghese Puthussery: Reunion Efforts of St. Thomas Christians of India. 2008, ISBN 81-87906-05-7 , pp. 68 and 69.
  3. ↑ Varghese Puthussery: Reunion Efforts of St. Thomas Christians of India. 2008, ISBN 81-87906-05-7 , p. 70.
  4. ↑ On Bishop Angelo Francis of St. Teresa, OCD (5th person) ( Memento of November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ On the Verapoly site
  6. ↑ On the establishment of the Verapoly Vicariate (Section 5) ( Memento of October 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ To the Carmelite monastery Verapoly, historical seat of the Apostolic Vicariate Verapoly ( Memento of October 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )