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Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly

Archdiocese of Verapoly
Archidioecesis Verapolitana
വരാപ്പുഴ അതിരൂപത
Kapal pali Kochi.jpg
Location
Country India
Ecclesiastical province Verapoly
Statistics
Area 1,500 km2 (580 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2010)
3,193,096
315,767 (9.9%)
Information
Sui iuris church Roman Church
Rite Latin Rite
Cathedral St Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Ernakulam, Cochin
Patron saint Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil
Vicar General Joseph Padiyaramparambil
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly (Verapolitana) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese belonging to the Latin rite, headquartred at Cochin city (Ernakulam district)of the south Indian state of Kerala. The archdiocese has administrative control over the suffragan dioceses viz. Calicut, Cochin, Kannur, Kottapuram and Vijayapuram. The headquarters is located in Kochi along the Malabar Coast in India. It was originally formed as the Vicariate of Malabar in 1657 and became a metropolitan see in 1886. Verapoly is the anglicised name of Varapuzha.

The Archdiocese of Verapoly was originally known as the Vicariate of Malabar. It has its origin in 1657, with the arrival of Carmelite Missionaries, most prominent among whom was Father Joseph of St. Mary, better known as Joseph Sebastiani. They had been deputed under Father Hyacinth as Apostolic Commissar, by Pope Alexander VII to effect a reconciliation of St. Thomas Christians of the Syro-Chaldaic Rite, who had seceded from their Archbishop Francis Garcia S.J. The majority of them had in 1653 revolted against the Archbishop and forsaking his authority by taking an oath for the purpose at the foot of a cross-thereafter called the "Coonen Cross" situated in Mattancherry, had made their own Archdeacon the Archbishop. By the efforts of Sebastiani a large number of seceders were brought back to the true fold. Nevertheless, they refused to be under the authority of their lawful Archbishop or under any prelate of the Jesuit Order known as the "Paulists".


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