VERAPOLY, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Located in southwestern India, State of Cochin-Travancore. It borders the dioceses of Calicut, Coimbatore, Vijayapuram and Cochin.
After the erection of the diocese of Cochin (Feb. 4, 1558) all the Catholics of the Latin rite residing between the boundaries of the archdiocese of Goa and Cape Comorin - and therefore also those of the territory of V. - were subject to the jurisdiction of Cochin, while those of the Syro-Malabar rite depended on the archdiocese of Cranganore (formerly the diocese of Angamale). In 1653, while the prelate Garcia was archbishop of Cranganore, a schism broke out among the St. Thomas Christians of the Syro-Malabar rite, and so Pope Alexander VII sent (1656) to Malabar, as apostolic commissioner, the Carmelite Father Giuseppe di S. Maria (Girolamo Sebastiani) with 4 confreres. Having succeeded in bringing back to the unity of the Church 84 of the 116 dissident parishes, which nevertheless did not wish to return under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Garcia, Father Giuseppe was consecrated titular bishop of Gerapoli in order to care for the Syro-Malabar and Latin Catholics of Malabar. Thus arose, in 1659, the apostolic vicariate of Serra del Malabar for the benefit of those faithful who, either through adverse circumstances or through the persecution of the Dutch who had seized Cochin, could not avail themselves of the-
(from F. Sacorgana di Brazo), Un inventore del 500, Fausto Veranzio da Sebenico, Rome 1932;
VERANZIO, ANTONIO - Project for a single-rope bridge by V. Fausto. Engraving from an oil painting - Šibenik, property of Count Draganich-Verantio.
the ordinary jurisdiction of Cranganore and Cochin. By a decree of 24 April 1838 the jurisdiction of these two dioceses was then suspended, the entire territory of the two dioceses being assigned to the apostolic vicariate of Serra del Malabar, until the influence of the Portuguese Padroado ceased to be obstructed by the Dutch.
On 10 April 1840 the apostolic vicar of Serra del Malabar was promoted titular archbishop (with particular regard to the faithful of the Syro-Malabar rite) and on 15 March 1853 the division of the apostolic vicariate, already arranged in fact in 1845 by Pope Gregory XVI, into three vicariates was confirmed: V., Canara, or Mangalore, and Quilon. On 1 September 1886 the apostolic vicariate of V. was elevated to an archdiocese and the see constituted metropolitan with Quilon as suffragan. In 1930 the diocese of Vijayapuram was detached from it. Within the territory of the archdiocese of V. there also extends that of the archdiocese of Ernakulam for the Syro-Malabar Catholics. At present (1953) it has 4 suffragan dioceses, namely: Kottar, Quilon, Trivandrum of the Latins, Vijayapuram.
It is entrusted to the indigenous clergy and has an area of 4,800 sq km with 1,614,120 inhabitants, thus distributed: 134,966 Latin Catholics, 349,500 Catholics of the Syro-Malabar rite, 55,500 dissidents of the Eastern rite, 17,700 Protestants, 2,151 Jews, 130,300 Muslims and 924,000 pagans. About 150 priests, almost all Indians, 90 of them belonging to the secular clergy and the rest to the Carmelite Order, exercise the sacred ministry there, assisted by about twenty brothers and by 282 sisters of various religious institutes. There is 1 seminary with 46 students. About thirty clerics pursue philosophical and theological studies at the regional seminary of Alwaye, at that of Tiruchirapally and at the Urban College of Propaganda Fide in Rome. The diocese is divided into 5 districts or forane vicariates, 45 parishes, 20 primary and 33 secondary stations; there are 51 churches and 47 chapels.
The archdiocese has 74 elementary schools with 11,000 boys and girls, 14 middle schools with more than 2,000 students, 11 high schools with 6,000 pupils, 6 vocational schools with 358 apprentices. There are moreover two university colleges: St. Albert's College with 750 students and St. Teresa's College with 500 female students. Charitable works: 1 hospital with 35 beds, 11 orphanages with a total of 560 orphans, 3 homes for the aged with 71 residents. The diocese also possesses 3 printing presses, where, among other things, about ten periodicals are printed, with a fair circulation. Numerous and flourishing are the confraternities, charitable associations and circles of Catholic Action.
Bibliography3 works
Pompeo Borgna