Vicariate Apostolic of Verapoly
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Archdiocese of Verapoly Archidioecesis Verapolitana വരാപ്പുഴ അതിരൂപത |
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| 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 Catholic 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, headquartered at Ernakulam of Cochin city of the south Indian state of Kerala. The archdiocese has administrative control over the suffragan dioceses viz. Calicut, Cochin, Kannur, Kottapuram, Diocese of Sultanpet 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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