Madurai (Madura), Diocese of

MADURAI (MADURA), DIOCESE OF. - On the southeastern 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 the question of the Malabar rites (v.).

In 1623 the mission counted 300 neophytes, 50 of whom were Brahmins; in 1640 the converts numbered 4,000 and by 1680 they reached 75,000. In 1650 it ceded 10,000 Catholics to the Mysore mission, and another 5,000 became, in 1704, the nucleus of the new Carnatic mission; nevertheless Madura 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 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 Sept. 1886 to a diocese with the name of Madura; on 7 June 1887 the name was changed to that of Trichinopoly and the diocese was made 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 with 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 counts 5,130,000 inhabitants, of whom 188,000 are Catholics; the others are Protestants (100,000), Muslims (about 200,000), Hindus (4,750,000). The Catholics are served by 130 regular priests and more than 60 diocesan priests, distributed in 4 districts, 64 quasi-parishes, 1,879 secondary stations with 172 churches and 741 chapels, assisted by a 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 normal schools; 23 charitable institutions, among them 12 orphanages, and the hospital. The various associations are flourishing, especially those of Catholic Action. Several periodicals are also printed there.

Pompeo Borgna