History
The Latin Diocese of Trivandrum has the territory consisiting
of Trivandrum and Chirayinkil Taluks of Thiruvananthapuram District
with a small strip of coastal belt from Kovalam to Pozhiyoor
in Neyyattinkara Taluk and Neerody to Eramainthura of K. K.
District in Tamilnadu.
Christianity in these parts dates from the time of the arrival
of the Portuguese in India and perhaps earlier. It is very likely
that the Franciscan and Dominican fathers of the middle ages
who evangelized Quilon and its suburbs worked also in Trivandrum.
Some of the Churches of this Diocese claim to be of pre-Portuguese
origin.
With the arrival of the Portuguese but especially with the advent
of the pioneer missionary, St. Francis Xavier, Christanity spread
far and wide in these parts with the result that by the close
of the sixteenth century there were well-established christian
communities all along the coast. But unfortunately with the
suppression of the Society of Jesus this missionary enterprise
came to a close.
The second phase of the missionary enterprise in the Diocese
begins with the dawn of the present century. The saintly Archbishop
Benziger who became Co-adjutor Bishop of Quilon in 1900 and
Bishop in 1905 was the apostle who propagated Christianity in
the Diocese through the fragrance of his saintly life, wise
leadership and unceasing assistance to his priests. In 1931
when he retired to the Carmel Hill monastery there were Christian
communities established in almost all places of the interior
region. As early as 1919, Abp Benziger recommended the establishment
of the Latin Diocese of Trivandrum, but it materialized only
after his retirement.
On July 1, 1937, by the Bull “ In Ora Malabarica”
Pope Pius XI created the Latin Diocese of Trivandrum with the
four taluks of Neyyattinkara, Nedumangad, Trivandrum and Chiryinkeezh
bifurcated from the Diocese of Quilon .Bishop Vincent V. Dereere,
OCD , Bishop of Quilon was transferred to the newly erected
Latin Diocese of Trivandrum which was entrusted to the Carmelites
of the Flanders Province (Belgium).
In 1952 when the Diocese of Alleppey was erected by the bifurcation
of the Padroado Diocese of Cochin, the narrow strip of coastal
parishes which formed the Trivandrum Portuguese Mission was
temporarily annexed to the Latin Diocese of Trivandrum with
with Bishop Vincent V. Dereere, ocd, as its administrator. On
May 20, 1955 this territory was definitely integrated in the
Latin Diocese of Trivandrum.
On October 24, 1966 when Bishop Vincent V. Dereere, ocd, resigned
from the See of Trivandrum, Bishop Peter Bernard Pereira was
the first Indian to be appointed Bishop of Trivandrum and the
Diocese passed into the hands of the indigenous clergy.
On July 16, 1996, by the Bull “Ad aptius Provehendum”
of Pope John Paul II the Diocese is bifurcated to form the new
Diocese of Neyyattinkara.
The Diocese is bounded on the north by the Diocese of Quilon,
on the East by the Diocese of Neyyatinkara, on the West by the
Arabian Sea and on the South by the Diocese of Kottar.
Abp
MARIA CALIST SOOSA PAKIAM
Born: Mar. 11, 1946
Priestly Ordn: Dec. 20, 1969
Episcopal Ordn: Feb. 02, 1990
Address:
Metropolitan Archbishop's House
Vellayambalam
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 003
Kerala.
Tel: (0471) 27 24 001, 27 24 002 (O), 27 23 001 (P)
Fax: (0471) 27 25 001
E-mail: bpsoosa@md4.vsnl.net.in , secretary2abp@yahoo.com
Website: www.latinarchdiocesetrivandrum.org
