Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calicut

The Archdiocese of Calicut (Latin: Archdioecesis Calicuten(sis)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical province or metropolitan archdiocese in India. It depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its suffragan dioceses are the Kannur and Sulthanpet.^[1]

Archdiocese of Calicut Archdioecesis Calicutensis കോഴിക്കോട് അതിരൂപത
Mother of God Cathedral, Calicut
Location
Country	India
Statistics
Area	12,505 km2 (4,828 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2006) 10,061,127 38,092 (0.4%)
Parishes	41
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Mother of God Cathedral in Kozhikode
Patron saint	St Francis Xavier
Current leadership
Pope	Sede vacante
Metropolitan Archbishop	Varghese Chakkalakal
Vicar General	Jenson Puthenveettil
Website
Website of the Diocese

Its cathedral is Mother of God Cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady, in the episcopal see of Kozhikode (Calicut).

Statistics

As of 2015^[update], it pastorally served 48,250 Catholics (0.6% of 8,059,057 total population) on 8,036 km² in 41 parishes and 3 missions with 132 priests (57 diocesan, 75 religious), 837 lay religious (127 brothers, 710 sisters) and 12 seminarians.

History

• 12 June 1923: Established as Diocese of Calicut on territories split off from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Coimbatore, Diocese of Mangalore and Diocese of Mysore
• On 1949 it gained territory from Metropolitan Archdiocese of Pondicherry^{[citation needed]}
• Lost territories repeatedly: on 31 December 1953 to establish Diocese of Tellicherry, on 1998.11.05 to establish Diocese of Kannur, on 28 December 2013 to establish Diocese of Sultanpet.^[2][3]
• On 12 April 2025, the Diocese of Calicut was elevated to the status of an archdiocese by Pope Francis. Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal, who had been serving as the diocesan bishop, was appointed as the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the newly formed Archdiocese.^[4]

Ordinaries

Bishops^[5]

• Paul Carlo Perini (1923 – 1932)
• Leone Proserpio (1932 – 1948)
• Aldo Maria Patroni (1948 – 1980)
• Maxwell Valentine Noronha (1980 – 2002)
• Joseph Kalathiparambil (2002 – 2011)
• Varghese Chakkalakal (2011 – 2025)

Archbishops

• Varghese Chakkalakal (2025 – present)