Metropolitan Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore

Archidioecesis Metropolitae Pondicheriensis et Cuddalorensis

Archidiocèse Metropolitain de Pondichéry-Cuddalore புதுவை கடலூர் உயர் மறைமாவட்டம்

With a land area of 11,348 square kilometers, the Archdiocese of Pondicherry-Cuddalore extends over the Pondicherry and Karaikal civil districts of Puducherry union territory and the civil districts of Cuddalore and Viluppuram of Tamil Nadu state. In 2001, the total population of the area was 6,151,891. Ethnic groups in the territory include the Tamils and French.

Subsequently, subdivisions of the archdiocese took place, creating the new dioceses of Kumbakonam in 1899 and Salem in 1930. In 1928 a great part of the present diocese of Vellore was separated from Pondicherry and attached to the archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore. On a reorganisation of the archdiocese by Rome in 1969, the Madurantagam taluk of Kanchipuram district was transferred to Madras, and Tiruvannamalai taluk to Vellore .

The Final Formation Edit As the archdiocese of Pondicherry extended over the Pondicherry union territory and the South Arcot district of Madras State, on 7 August 1953 it was given a new title by Rome: the "Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore".

Originally, the archdiocese included the former French settlements of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Chandannagar, Mahe, and Yanam. Another ex-French settlement was also looked after by the MSFS Fathers in Visakhapatnam. Chandannagar was re-allocated to the archdiocese of Calcutta, now Kolkata, and Mahé to the Kerala diocese of Calicut, now Kozhikode, in 1949.

The present archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore extends over the Pondicherry and Karaikal districts of Puducherry and the Cuddalore (excluding Chidambaram and Kattumannarkoil taluks) and Viluppuram districts of Tamil Nadu