Archeparchy of Changanacherry Changanacherrensis ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി അതിഭദ്രാസനം | |
|---|---|
 St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral Changanacherry | |
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| Location | |
| Country |  India |
| Territory | Districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu |
| Ecclesiastical province | Changanassery |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 24,595 km2 (9,496 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2009) 9,430,000 402,200 (4.3%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Syro-Malabar Church |
| Rite | Syro-Malabar Rite |
| Cathedral | St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral in Changanassery |
| Patron saint | Saint Joseph |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry (Syriac: ܐܦܪܟܝܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܕܫܢܓܢܐܣܐܪܐ, romanized: Afarkaya Rabbta d-Shanganasara; Malayalam: ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി അതിഭദ്രാസനം, romanized: Changanassery Athibhadhrasanam) is a Catholic East-Syriac Rite archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Joseph Perumthottam is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving since 2007. Thomas Tharayil has been the auxiliary bishop since 2017. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode (Tamil Nadu).
The Changanacherry (originally named Kottayam) jurisdiction was one of the first two Syro-Malabar vicariates, along with Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur, when Pope Leo XIII in 1887 re-organized Syro-Malabar Catholics as a separate church from the Latin Church's jurisdiction ever since the Synod of Diamper in 1599.