PALAI. – Syro-Malabar diocese, erected by the apostolic letters Quo ecclesiarum of 25 July 1950. It was separated from the diocese of Changanacherry and is a suffragan of Ernakulam.
In the diocese of P. there are 194,000 faithful; 103 parishes, filial churches, and mission centres; 226 secular priests; 38 religious houses, 91 primary schools, 46 secondary schools, 1 university college, and 4 charitable institutions.
BIBL.: Servizio Informazioni Chiesa orientale (Rome), 5 (1950), p. 92.