SAN TOMMASO DI MELIAPOR, DIOCESE of. — In India, suffragan of Goa. It was erected in 1606 and takes its name from the place where the apostle s. Tommaso, according to tradition, was buried after his martyrdom and where the Cathedral dedicated to his memory was built.
The locality of «S. Thomé de M.» (Meliapor in the Tamil language means city of peacocks) is now part of the city of Madras. Originally, the diocese of M. was an integral part of that of Coccino, from which it was later separated, receiving the following territories: the Fishers’ Coast, the Coromandel Coast, Bihar, Orissa, Bengal, and ancient Pegu. Under the Concordat of 23 June 1886 and the subsequent notes, the diocese came to consist of two non-contiguous sections of territory; the bishop also had ordinary jurisdiction over several exempt churches and congregations scattered throughout south India and Bengal. The profound changes that took place in Portugal and in the religious life of India, especially after the First World War, made the execution of the aforementioned Concordat difficult, so that, by the Convention of 11 Apr. 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 North Arcot district to the west—and that of Tanjore, approximately three hundred miles from the former, with the addition of the two taluks of Alangudi and Tirumayan in the former State of Pudukkottah, part of the taluk of Nannilam, the taluks of Mayavaram and Shiyali, and 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 and primary stations, with a total of 124 priests, all Indians, and 438 religious women belonging to various institutes. It has major and minor seminaries, 1 university college, and schools of all levels that are very well attended, as well as 39 charitable and social institutions.
By virtue of the agreement of 18 July 1950 between the Holy See and Portugal, the dioceses of Coccino and S. T. di M. ceased to belong to the Portuguese Patronage and passed from dependence on the S. Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs to that of the S. Congregation of Propaganda. By a decree of Propaganda dated 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 jurisdiction of Madras, which assumed the name of the archdiocese of Madras-Meliapor, while the new diocese of Tanjore was erected from the remaining part.