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Archdiocese of Shamshabad

Shamshabaden(sis)

Syro-Malabar archeparchy based at Shamshabad near Hyderabad, erected as an eparchy on 10 October 2017 for Syro-Malabar faithful across much of India outside Kerala, and elevated to a metropolitan archeparchy on 28 August 2025. Its seat is St Alphonsa Cathedral at Kukatpally, Hyderabad.

The see

Rank
Metropolitan see
Tradition
Syro-Malabar Church
Erected
10 October 2017
Latin
Shamshabaden(sis)
Patron
Mar Thoma Sliha (St Thomas the Apostle)
Annuario code
001005079

The see in figures

Catholics
123,735
Priests
72
Catholics per priest
1,719
Extent
1,778,384 km²
Catholics per km²
0.1

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Archbishop
Mar Antony Prince Panengaden

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St Alphonsa Cathedral, Kukatpally, Hyderabad stands in Shamshabad, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Shamshabad

This see is the metropolitan of its province.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Based in Telangana, India, Shamshabad is an archeparchy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Pope Francis erected it as an eparchy on 10 October 2017 and named Mar Raphael Thattil its first eparch. Writing to the bishops of India, Francis pointed to the country's decades of experience with "overlapping jurisdictions" among different sui iuris churches, adding: "With the growth of spiritual friendship and mutual assistance, any tension or apprehension should be swiftly overcome.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.