Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palai

Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Palai
Coat of arms
Location
Country	India
Ecclesiastical province	Changanassery
Statistics
Area	1,166 km2 (450 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2009) 695,000 326,747 (47%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Established	25 July 1950
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Thomas in Palai
Patron saint	Immaculate Conception St Thomas the Apostle St. Alphonsa
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Major Archbishop	Raphael Thattil
Bishop	Joseph Kallarangatt
Metropolitan Archbishop	Joseph Perumthottam
Auxiliary Bishops	Vacant
Bishops emeritus	Joseph Pallikaparampil Bishop Emeritus (1981-2004) Jacob Muricken auxiliary bishop emeritus(2012-2022)
Website
www.palaidiocese.com

The Eparchy of Palai is a Syro-Malabar Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction or eparchy of the Catholic Church with an area of 1166 km^2[1] comprising the Meenachil taluk and a few villages of the neighbouring taluks in Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki districts of central Kerala in South India. The faithful of this eparchy, numbering 326,742, belong to the ancient St. Thomas Christian community. The seat of the bishop is the St. Thomas Cathedral based in the town of Palai. The current bishop is Joseph Kallarangatt, serving since March 2004.

Pope Pius XII established the eparchy bifurcating then Eparchy of Changanacherry, and out of the territory covered by the then foranes of Palai, Muttuchira, Kuravilangad, Anakkallu and Ramapuram on 25 July 1950. Initially, the eparchy was erected as a suffragan of the Acheparchy of Ernakulam. The then apostolic nuncio to India, Archbishop Leo P. Kierkels, installed Sebastian Vayalil as the first bishop of the new eparchy. Eparchy of Changanacherry was elevated to the status of Archeparchy and constituted the new ecclesiastical province of Changanacherry on 22 August 1956. Thus, the eparchy of Palai became one of its suffragans.