Welcome to Kottar Diocese : A Vibrant Missionary Diocese in India!

The way the laity share responsibility at various levels in the diocese sets a model.

The area under the Diocese of Kottar had known the Christian Faith even several Centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese on the west coast. Monuments recently excavated in a place called Chinna-Muttom amply testify to this fact. The presence of St Thomas Christians in places like Thiruvithancode and Kottar, presently parishes in the Diocese, has been attested by several missionaries under the Padroado.

However with the coming of the Portugese missionaries a small section of the local people, whose descendants still form a significant part of Diocese, became Christians. They are known as Paravas. About 7 years after their conversion, in December 1544, over ten thousand fishermen, known as Mukkuvas, living on the sea coast from Poovar to Pallam were baptized by one of the greatest missionaries of modern times, St Francis Xavier.

With the renewed efforts of the Sacred Congregation for Propagation of Faith (founded in 1622) Christian missionaries began to penetrate into the interior parts of the area. Initially attention was given to the conversion of the Nairs. There were several Christians those days from the Nair community. It is to this community of early Nair converts that the great Martyr of the Diocese, Devasahayam belongs. He was born in 1712, converted to Christian faith in 1745 by the gentle efforts of one captured captain of the Dutch Navy, called E.B. De Lannoy in 1752 and killed for the Christian faith at Aralvaimozhy . His mortal remains have been interred in the church of St Francis Xavier, which in 1930 became the Cathedral of the new Diocese of kottar.

The 18th century saw rapid growth of Christianity in the interior parts of the area, following a large-scale conversion of people belonging to the Nadar Community. Vencode and Karenkadu were centres of such conversions. With the creation of the Vicariate of Verapoly the Church of Kottar came under the efficient supervision of the Carmelites. The Carmelite Bishop of Quilon, Most Rev Aloysius Maria Benziger, took pains to organize and strengthen the existing Church of kottor. Thanks to his recommendation to Rome, the present diocese of Kottar was created on 26.05.1930 with the most Rev Lawrence Pereira as its first Bishop. He was the third native Indian in modern times to become a Bishop.

Linguistically Tamil has always been the language of the people of the area. Keeping in mind, therefore, the linguistic aspirations of the people, Rome appointed as successor to Bishop Pereira, a Jesuit from Tiruchirapally, Most Rev Thomas Roch Agniswamy and eventually detached the Diocese from the Metropolitan See of Veropoly and attached it to the Archdiocese of Madurai on 11.10.1963.

Evangelisation activities received much impetus during the tenure of Bishop Agniswamy. A great number of parishes, mission stations and schools came into being. His special interest in the promotion of vocations ensured that by the time he retired in 1971 practically all the priests of the Diocese were from within the area.

Most Rev Marianus Arokiasamy who succeeded him in 1971 was committed to the implementation of the reforms of Second Vatican Council, especially in the fields of liturgy, catechetics, Bible and pastoral activity. The establishment of sixteen Diocesan Commissions, the Pastoral Centre, the Animation Centre and Youth Centre and the erection of parish councils in more than fifty percent of the parishes bear witness to his interests. Conscious of the needs of the wider Church, he gladly sent his priests to serve in various capacities at national and international levels. He was promoted as Archbishop of Madurai in 1987.

Most Rev Leon A. Tharmaraj, the fourth Bishop, who assumed office in 1989 and who hails from this Diocese faithfully carried forward the polices of his predecessor and went on further in making the Diocese a Church of the laity, concentrating on the formation of BCCs and Pastoral Councils and encouraging lay leadership in the mission of the Diocese.

The Diocese consists of the taluks of Thovalai, Agasteeswaram (minus the Parish of Azhagappapuram belonging to the Diocese of Thoothukudi) Kalkulam and Vilavancode (minus the eight villages along the coast belonging to the Diocese of Thiruvananthapuram) of the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

Former Prelates:
Most Rev Lawrence Pereira (1930-1938); Most Rev Thomas Roch Agniswamy SJ (1938-1971); Most Rev Marianus Arokiasamy (1971-1987); Most Rev Leon A. Tharmaraj (1989 - 2007).

NB : Most Rev. Leon A. Tharmaraj, Bishop of Kottar died on 16.01.2007.