COIMBATORE (COIMBATUR), DIOCESE of. – On 16 March 1845, the provicariate of C. was detached from the apostolic vicariate of the Coromandel Coast; it was subsequently elevated, in 1850, to an apostolic vicariate and finally, in 1886, to a diocese. The Fathers of the Paris Foreign Missions worked in the mission until 1940, when it passed, with some limitation of territory, to the indigenous clergy.
The area is 18,122 sq km, and the population is approximately 2,850,000 inhabitants, of whom 2,700,000 are Hindus, 64,000 Muslims, 44,000 Catholics, and 30,000 Protestants.
The priests, all indigenous, number 50, and the seminarians 20. There are also several religious. The sisters number approximately 200. There are 34 quasi-parishes, 32 churches with a priest in residence, and 64 without a resident priest. The elementary schools number 45, the middle schools 10, and the secondary schools 3, with 11,000 pupils. Assistance and charitable works are fairly well developed. The diocese is suffragan to Pondicherry.