Archeparchy of Changanacherry
archdiocese
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry
(Syriac: ܐܦܪܟܝܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܕܫܢܓܢܐܣܐܪܐ, romanized: Afarkaya Rabbta d-Shanganasara; Malayalam: ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി അതിരൂപത, romanized: Changanassery Atirūpata) is a Syro-Malabar Church archeparchy of the Catholic Church with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam(excluding Vaikom), Alappuzha(excluding Cherthala), Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Mar Thomas Tharayil is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving from 2024. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode (Tamil Nadu).
The Changanacherry (originally named Kottayam) jurisdiction was one of the first two Syro-Malabar vicariates, along with Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur, when Pope Leo XIII in 1887 re-organized Syro-Malabar Catholics as a separate church from the Latin Church's jurisdiction ever since the Synod of Diamper in 1599.
History
The Apostolic Church of St. Thomas Christians traditionally traces its origin to St. Thomas, the Apostle, who is held to have arrived on the Kerala Coast in A.D. 52. In the course of history this Church entered into good relationship with the East Syriac Church. The presbiteral office of the Archdeacon of all India did the temporal administration.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1366005. Authority coordinates are 9.444, 76.536. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024, 1887 and 1599.
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