MADURAI (Madura), Diocese of. — On the south-eastern coast of India, entrusted to the Jesuits of the Toulouse province. The mission of M. owes its beginnings to the famous Jesuit Roberto de Nobili (1606); the system he adopted gave rise to the Malabar rites controversy (v.).
In 1623 the mission counted 300 neophytes, 50 of whom were Brahmins; in 1640 the converts numbered 4,000 and in 1680 they reached 75,000. In 1650 it ceded 10,000 Catholics to the mission of Mysore, and another 5,000 became, in 1704, the nucleus of the new Carnatic mission; nevertheless Madurai still counted 90,000 Catholics. Later, the arrival of the Dutch in India, then the suppression of the Society of Jesus and the French Revolution caused that mission to decline, though a good number of Catholics remained faithful. The regions of M., Mysore, Marava and Tanjore were erected on 19 May 1846 into an apostolic vicariate, raised on 1 Sept. 1886 to the status of a diocese under the name of Madura; on 7 June 1887 the name was changed to that of Trichinopoly and the diocese was constituted a suffragan of Bombay. Finally, on 8 Jan. 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 on the dioceses of Tuticorin, Kottar, Trivandrum, Quilon, Vijayapuram, Coimbatore, Trichinopoly and St. Thomas of Meliapore. By decree of 21 Oct. 1950 the name was changed to that of M. Over an area of 17,000 sq. km it has 5,130,000 inhabitants, of whom 188,000 are Catholics; the rest are Protestants (100,000), Muslims (about 200,000), Hindus (4,750,000). The Catholics are served by 130 regular priests and over 60 secular priests, distributed in 4 districts, 64 quasi-parishes, 1,879 secondary stations with 172 churches and 741 chapels, assisted by one diocesan religious congregation for men and eight for women. It has a diocesan minor seminary, 276 elementary schools, 9 secondary, 2 professional and 3 normal schools; 23 charitable institutions, including 12 orphanages and a hospital. Various associations flourish, especially those of Catholic Action. Several periodicals are also printed there.
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**Pompeo Borgna**