SAINT THOMAS OF MELIAPOR, DIOCESE OF. - In India, suffragan of Goa. It was erected in 1606 and takes its name from the place where the apostle St. Thomas, according to tradition, was buried after his martyrdom and where the Cathedral dedicated to his memory arose.
The locality of "S. Thomé de M." (Meliapor in the Tamil language means city of peacocks), is now a portion of the city of Madras. Originally the diocese of M. was an integral part of that of Cochin, from which it was later separated, receiving the following territories: the Fishery Coast, the Coromandel Coast, Bihar, Orissa, Bengal and ancient Pegu. By the Concordat of 23 June 1886 and the subsequent notes, the diocese came to consist of two uninterrupted sections of territory; the bishop furthermore had ordinary jurisdiction also over several exempt churches and congregations, scattered throughout South India and Bengal. The profound changes that occurred in Portugal and in the religious life of India, especially after the First World War, made the execution of the aforesaid Concordat difficult, so that, by the Convention of 11 April 1929, the extent of the diocese was limited to two separate and distinct territories, that of S. Thomé - situated in the civil district of Chingleput between the Coom River to the north and the Palar River to the south, the Bay of Bengal to the east and the district of North Arcot to the west - and that of Tanjore, about three hundred miles distant from the first, with the addition of the two taluks of Alangudi and Tirumayan in the old State of Pudukkottah, of part of the taluk of Nannilam, of the taluks of Mayavaram and Shiyali and of part of the taluk of Chidambaram in South Arcot.
It has an area of 14,130 sq km and a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 120,000 are Catholics. It is divided into 7 vicariates comprising 63 parishes, with primary stations, with a total of 124 priests, all Indian, and 438 religious women of various institutes. It has major and minor seminaries, 1 university college and well-attended schools of all grades, 39 charitable and social institutions.
By virtue of the agreement of 18 July 1950 between the Holy See and Portugal, the dioceses of Cochin and S. T. di M. ceased to belong to the Portuguese Patronage and passed from the dependence of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs to that of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda. By decree of Propaganda of 13 Nov. 1952 the part of the diocese of S. T. di M. included in the civil district of Chingleput was incorporated into the ecclesiastical circumscription of Madras, which assumed the name of archdiocese of Madras-Meliapor, while with the remaining part the new diocese of Tanjore was erected.
Bibliography2 works
Pompeo Borgna