MADHURAI (MADURA), DIOCESE of. — On the south-eastern coast of India, entrusted to the Jesuits of the province of Toulouse. The mission of M. owes its beginnings to the celebrated Jesuit Roberto de Nobili (1606); the system he adopted gave rise to Malabar rites (v.).
In 1623 the mission numbered 300 neophytes, 50 of whom were Brahmins; in 1640 the converts numbered 4000, and in 1680 they reached 75,000. In 1650 it ceded 10,000 Catholics to the mission of Mysore, and another 5000 became, in 1704, the nucleus of the new Carnatic mission; nevertheless, Madura still numbered 90,000 Catholics. Later, the arrival of the Dutch in India, followed by the suppression of the Society of Jesus and the French Revolution, caused that mission to decline, although a considerable number of Catholics managed to remain faithful. The regions of M., Mysore, Marava and Tanjore were erected on 19 May 1846 into an apostolic vicariate, elevated on 1 September 1886 to a diocese under the name of Madura; on 7 June 1887 the name was changed to Trichinopoly, and the diocese was made a suffragan of Bombay. Finally, on 8 January 1938, the region of M., detached from the diocese of Trichinopoly (which at the same time passed to the Indian secular clergy), was erected into a diocese under the name of Madura, entrusted to the Jesuits and declared a suffragan of Bombay. It borders the dioceses of Tuticorin, Kottar, Trivandrum, Quilon, Vijayapuram, Coimbatore, Trichinopoly and St. Thomas of Meliapore. By decree of 21 October 1950 the name was changed to M. Over an area of 17,000 sq. km. it has 5,130,000 inhabitants, of whom 188,000 are Catholics; the others are Protestants (100,000), Muslims (approximately 200,000), and Hindus (4,750,000). The Catholics are served by 130 religious priests and more than 60 diocesan priests, distributed among 4 districts, 64 quasi-parishes, and 1879 secondary stations with 172 churches and 741 chapels, assisted by one diocesan male religious congregation and 8 female ones. It has a diocesan minor seminary, 276 elementary schools, 9 secondary schools, 2 vocational schools and 3 teacher-training schools; 23 charitable institutions, including 12 orphanages, and the hospital. The various associations, especially those of Catholic Action, are flourishing. Several periodicals are also printed there.