Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palai
Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Palai | |
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Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country | India |
| Ecclesiastical province | Metropolitan Province of Changanassery |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 1,166 km2 (450 sq mi) |
Population
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| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Syro-Malabar Catholic Church |
| Established | 25 July 1950 |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of St Thomas in Palai |
| Patron saint | Immaculate Conception St Thomas the Apostle St. Alphonsa |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Major Archbishop | Raphael Thattil |
| Bishop | Joseph Kallarangatt |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Thomas Tharayil (archbishop of Changanassery) |
| Bishops emeritus | Joseph Pallikaparampil Bishop Emeritus (1981-2004) Jacob Muricken auxiliary bishop emeritus(2012-2022) |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Eparchy of Palai is a Syro-Malabar Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction or eparchy of the Catholic Church with an area of 1166 km2 comprising the Meenachil taluk and a few villages of the neighbouring taluks in Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki districts of central Kerala in South India. The faithful of this eparchy, numbering 326,742, belong to the ancient St. Thomas Christian community. The seat of the bishop is the St. Thomas Cathedral based in the town of Palai. The current bishop is Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, serving since March 2004.
Pope Pius XII established the eparchy bifurcating then Eparchy of Changanacherry, and out of the territory covered by the then foranes of Palai, Muttuchira, Kuravilangad, Anakkallu and Ramapuram on 25 July 1950. Initially, the eparchy was erected as a suffragan of the Acheparchy of Ernakulam. The then apostolic nuncio to India, Archbishop Leo P. Kierkels, installed Sebastian Vayalil as the first bishop of the new eparchy. Eparchy of Changanacherry was elevated to the status of Archeparchy and constituted the new ecclesiastical province of Changanacherry on 22 August 1956. Thus, the eparchy of Palai became one of its suffragans.