KOTTAYAM, DIOCESE OF. - A Malabarese diocese of the Oriental rite in India, suffragan of Ernakulam, created an apostolic vicariate on 20 May 1887 and raised to the status of a diocese on 21 December 1923.
Faithful: 43,548; priests: 86; churches and chapels: 51. One monastery with 15 Carmelite religious; 9 convents with 141 religious sisters; 45 schools and various charitable works.
BIBL.: Servizio Informazioni Congr. Orientale, 11 (1947), sheet 2; Annuario Pontificio, 1951, p. 234. Guglielmo de Vries