History of the Diocese
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar, erected on 26 May 1930, is situated in Kanniyakumari District, the southernmost district of the State of Tamil Nadu, India. Kanniyakumari occupies a unique place on the ecclesiastical map of the country, as it is home to the jurisdictions of six Catholic dioceses: Kottar, Kuzhithurai, Thoothukudi and Thiruvananthapuram of the Latin Church, Thuckalay of the Syro-Malabar Church, and Marthandamof the Syro-Malankara Church.
The territory of the present Diocese of Kottar had known the Christian faith several centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese on the western coast of India. Archaeological monuments discovered at Chinna Muttom, one of the Diocese’s coastal parishes near Kanniyakumari, bear witness to this early Christian presence. The existence of St. Thomas Christians at Thiruvithancode, Kottar and other places in the region has likewise been attested by several missionaries who served under the Portuguese Padroado.
With the arrival of the Portuguese missionaries, a section of the local people known as the Paravas embraced the Christian faith in 1536–1537. Seven years later, in 1544, more than ten thousand fishermen of the Mukkuva community living in the coastal villages from Poovar (now in the Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram) to Pallam were baptized by the great missionary St. Francis Xavier. One of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier laid a firm foundation for the growth of Christianity in the region. The present Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier incorporates the original Church of St. Mary built by him.
With the renewed efforts of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, founded in 1622, Christian missionaries turned their attention to the evangelization of the interior regions. Many members of the Vellala and Nair communities embraced the Christian faith. Among them, the most illustrious was Nilakanda Pillai, later known as Devasahayam (Lazar), the martyr of the Diocese.
Nilakanda Pillai was born in the village of Nattalam in 1712 and served as an official in the court of King Marthanda Varma of the Kingdom of Travancore. He embraced Christianity through the influence of Eustachius De Lannoy, the Dutch naval commander who later became the Chief Admiral of the King’s army. In 1745, Nilakanda Pillai was baptized as Lazar (Devasahayam) by Rev. Fr. John Baptist Buttari, S.J., the Parish Priest of Vadakkankulam. The King made repeated attempts to persuade him to renounce his Christian faith. When these efforts failed, he was imprisoned and subjected to severe torture for nearly three years before being taken to Kattadimalai near Aralvaimozhi, where he was martyred by being shot on 14 January 1752. His mortal remains were interred in the Church of St. Francis Xavier, which later became the Cathedral of the Diocese of Kottar in 1930.
The eighteenth century witnessed the rapid spread of Christianity into the interior regions, particularly through the large-scale conversion of members of the Nadar community. Vencode and Karenkadu emerged as important centres of evangelization.
With the establishment of the Vicariate of Verapoly, the Portuguese Padroado system gradually came to an end in this region, except in the seven southern coastal parishes stretching from Eraymanthurai to Neerodi. In 1853, the Vicariate of Quilon was established and entrusted to the Belgian Carmelite missionaries. Following the establishment of the Catholic Hierarchy in India in 1886, Quilon became a Diocese extending from Mavelikara in the north to Kottar in the south, with Kottar serving as the southern centre of the Diocese.
The Swiss-born Carmelite Bishop Aloysius Maria Benziger is rightly regarded as the architect of the present Diocese of Kottar. Through his saintly life, missionary zeal and visionary pastoral leadership, he laid the foundations for the remarkable growth of Catholic communities in the southern region of the Diocese of Quilon. Realizing that education was essential for the integral development of the people, he established schools in many coastal villages and founded St. Francis Teacher Training Institute at Assisi, Nagercoil. During his episcopate he established 112 schools within a span of twenty-five years. Carmel Higher Secondary School and St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil, remain enduring monuments to his vision. Archbishop Benziger was also among the earliest bishops to petition the Holy See for the beatification of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Following her beatification, he built and blessed the first church in the world dedicated to her at Kandanvilai on 7 April 1924, and another at Thoonkampara on 12 May 1924. He also participated in her canonization at Rome on 17 May 1925.
At Bishop Benziger’s recommendation, the southern portion of the Diocese of Quilon was erected as the Diocese of Kottar on 26 May 1930. Rev. Fr. Lawrence Pereira became its first Bishop, the third Indian to be appointed a Latin Catholic bishop. Having previously ministered in the Vencode and Enayam missions, Bishop Lawrence was well acquainted with the region. Despite limited resources, he laid the firm foundations of the new Diocese before his death on 5 January 1938.
In 1939, the Holy See appointed Rev. Thomas Roch Agniswamy, S.J., a native of Tiruchirappalli, as the second Bishop of Kottar. During his episcopate, evangelization received fresh impetus through the establishment of numerous parishes, mission stations and educational institutions. His concern for fostering indigenous vocations resulted in the establishment of St. Aloysius Minor Seminary and the Tamil Nadu Xavier Mission Home for missionary service in North India. During his tenure, the reorganization of States in 1956 brought Kanniyakumari District into the State of Madras (now Tamil Nadu), and in 1963 the Diocese of Kottar became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Madurai. By the time he retired in 1971, almost all the diocesan clergy were natives of the region.
Most Rev. Marianus Arckiasamy succeeded Bishop Agniswamy in 1971. Inspired by the Second Vatican Council, he established sixteen diocesan commissions, particularly in the areas of Bible, Liturgy and Catechetics. He also founded the Animation Centre, Pastoral Centre and Youth Centre to strengthen pastoral ministry. Parish pastoral councils were introduced in more than half of the parishes, and many priests were sent to serve the wider Church in India and abroad. During his episcopate, the communal disturbances of 1982 posed a grave challenge to the Diocese. Working together with the Head of the Kundrakudi Adheenam and other religious leaders, Bishop Arckiasamy played a pivotal role in restoring peace and communal harmony, leading to the formation of Thiruvarul Peravai to foster interreligious understanding and reconciliation.
In 1989, Bishop Leon A. Tharmaraj became the fourth Bishop of Kottar and the first native son of the Diocese to shepherd its faithful. He strengthened the active participation of the laity through Basic Christian Communities, parish and diocesan pastoral councils, and lay leadership. He also promoted self-reliance and self-support in the life of the Diocese. Following the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004, which claimed hundreds of lives and caused widespread destruction along the coast, Bishop Leon led the Diocese in extensive relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts with generous assistance from people across India and abroad. The Diocese lost a devoted shepherd with his sudden demise on 16 January 2007.
Bishop Peter Remigius, a native priest of Kottar who had been serving as Bishop of Kumbakonam, was transferred to Kottar and installed on 24 August 2007. He strengthened the missionary outreach of the Diocese by erecting several mission stations into parishes and further consolidated the role of the laity through strengthened parish and diocesan pastoral councils.
The cause for the beatification of Devasahayam and the official recognition of his martyrdom was formally initiated in 2003. Following the approval of his martyrdom by Pope Benedict XVI, Devasahayam was beatified on 2 December 2012 at Nagercoil by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who presided over the celebration as the representative of the Holy Father. Through his beatification, Devasahayam became the first Indian to receive the crown of martyrdom on Indian soil.
At its erection in 1930, the Diocese comprised 25 parishes with about 95,000 faithful served by 32 priests. Through the dedicated pastoral, educational and missionary service of its bishops, clergy, religious and lay faithful, the Diocese grew steadily. By 2014 it comprised 181 parishes with 543,789 faithful, leading to a request to the Holy See for the erection of a new Diocese to ensure more effective pastoral care.
His Holiness Pope Francis erected the Diocese of Kuzhithurai in 2014 from the southern portion of the Diocese of Kottar and appointed Rev. Fr. Jerome Dhas Varuvel, S.D.B., a native priest of Kottar, as its first Bishop. He was consecrated on 24 February 2015.
On 28 February 2017, Pope Francis appointed Rev. Fr. Nazarene Soosai, a priest of the Diocese of Kottar, as the sixth Bishop of Kottar. He was consecrated and installed on 29 June 2017. Guided by his episcopal motto, “In the Mind of Christ,” Bishop Nazarene Soosai has sought to strengthen the rich spiritual heritage of the Diocese through participatory leadership, pastoral renewal, evangelization, education and social outreach.
Meanwhile, the process leading to the canonization of Blessed Devasahayam advanced steadily. Following the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession, Pope Francis approved his canonization. On 15 May 2022, Devasahayam was canonized in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, becoming the first married layman from India to be declared a saint. A national thanksgiving celebration was held in the Diocese of Kottar on 05 June 2022.
On 14 January 2026, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India solemnly proclaimed Martyr Saint Devasahayam as the Patron Saint of the Laity in India at St. Devasahayam Mount, the sacred place of his martyrdom.
As of June 2026, the Diocese of Kottar comprises:
- 95 parishes
- 34 substations
- 3 mission stations
- 240 diocesan priests
- 55 religious priests
- 10 religious brothers
- 485 women religious
- 2,44,195 Catholic faithful
Today, the Diocese of Kottar continues its mission of proclaiming the Gospel with renewed zeal under the pastoral leadership of Most Rev. Nazarene Soosai. Inspired by its rich apostolic heritage, the witness of St. Francis Xavier and Martyr Saint Devasahayam, and guided by the episcopal motto “In the Mind of Christ,” the Diocese remains committed to evangelization, integral human development, priestly and religious formation, and the active participation of the lay faithful. Living in harmony with people of other faiths in Kanniyakumari District, the Diocese joyfully carries forward the mission entrusted to it by Christ.