Roman Catholic Diocese of Sivagangai

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sivagangai is located in Tamilnadu, India. It was established on July 3, 1987 in the Archdiocese of Madurai. The Most Rev. S. Edward Francis was the First Bishop of the new Diocese and Bp. Jebamalai Susaimanickam succeeded him as the second bishop.

The territory of the diocese comprises two civil districts of Ramanathapuram and Sivagangai. The total population of the area is 2,479,560 of which the Catholic population is 223,548 (9.1%). As of now the diocese has 61 parishes, about 107 diocesan clergy, 39 religious priests and over 350 religious men and women who serve at various parishes and schools.

St. John de Britto (1693), the patron saint of the diocese, entered the region as a Jesuit missionary from Europe and became the bedrock of faith for thousands of people. He was beheaded at Oriyur on Feb 4, 1693 by the king of the region for preaching about Jesus Christ and establishing churches.

[edit] References

http://www.santhrex.com

http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsiva.html

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