TANJORE [THANJAVUR], Diocese of. - Located in south-eastern India.
By decree of the S. Congr. of Propaganda Fide of 13 Nov. 1952, the diocese of St. Thomas of Meliapore, which by the agreement between the Holy See and Portugal of 18 July 1950 ceased to be part of the Portuguese patronage and passed under the jurisdiction of Propaganda, and the archdiocese of Madras were limited to the sole portion of territory included in the civil district of Chingleput and united so as to form a single archdiocese of Madras-Meliapore, while with the parts of territory of the said two ecclesiastical circumscriptions situated outside the district of Chingleput the dioceses of Vellore and of T. were respectively erected.
The diocese of T., erected with the southern territory of St. Thomas of Meliapore, comprises almost the whole civil district of T. and a small district belonging to the civil district of South Arcot. It borders on the Palk Strait, on the dioceses of Kumbakonam, Tiruchirappally and Madhurai. It has an area of 9,615 sq. km. and a population of almost 3 million inhabitants, of whom 85,000 are Catholics, 40,000 Protestants and the rest Hindus, with a small minority of Muslims. It is entrusted to the indigenous clergy consisting of about 50 priests, almost all Indians. The language used is Tamil. It has 11 primary stations or quasi-parishes, well equipped, with priests permanently resident. The whole diocesan territory is very populous and provided with Catholic schools and colleges, charitable works and beneficent institutions. It is a suffragan of Madras-Meliapore.
Bibliography
Pompeo Borgna