TUTICORIN, DIOCESE of. - Situated in south-eastern India, it overlooks the Gulf of Mannar (the ancient Fishery Coast or Coast of the Pearl Fishers), in the sea separating India from the island of Ceylon.
Established on 12 June 1923, with territory detached from the diocese of Trichinopoly (now Tiruchirapally), it received, under the Additional Convention of 29 June 1929 between the Holy See and Portugal, 5 parishes from the diocese of S. Tommaso di Meliapor. It is entrusted to the Indian clergy. Over an area of 6,400 sq. km., it has 2,100,000 inhabitants, of whom 117,107 are Catholics, 70,200 Protestants, 25,000 Muslims, and 1,350,000 Hindus. There are 78 Catholic priests, of whom 72 are native diocesan clergy and 5 religious. The clergy are assisted by 16 Brothers of the Sacred Heart (a diocesan institute originating in Madhurai), 17 Rosarian Brothers, and approximately 260 sisters, almost all native. There is also a minor seminary. Ecclesiastically, the diocese is divided into 4 rural vicariates, 48 parishes, and 356 secondary stations (statistics for 1952). It has 300 catechists; 686 male teachers and 240 female teachers. Charitable institutions: 1 hospital, 3 recently founded leper colonies, 7 orphanages, and 1 poorhouse. The confraternities, sodalities, and Catholic Action associations are flourishing. The diocese also possesses a printing press where the fairly widely circulated newspaper Guatathutha is printed.