Statutes of The Ecclesiastical Region of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry, India

PREAMBLE

“Although the individual Bishop is constituted through a canonical mission, the Shepherds of a definite portion of the flock of Christ, on whose behalf he exercises his sacred power, nonetheless, on account of the Sacrament of the Episcopate and Hierarchical Communion, he becomes a “homo catholicus”, that is, he is called to have a part of the care of all the churches (2 Cor 11:28), so that, together with the other Bishops, he may work at building up the entire church” (Congregation for Bishops with the approval of Pope Paul VI on the Feast of Chair of Peter 1973).

In the spirit of the above words of the Directory on the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops, the Bishops of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry set up an organization for the mutual animation and support, called THE TAMILNADU BISHOPS’ COUNCIL. The Diocesan Bishops of the THREE ecclesiastical provinces: Madras-Mylapore, Madurai and Pondicherry and Cuddalore in the state of Tamilnadu and Union Territory of Pondicherry in India, have been coming together for common pastoral planning and action for the past 35 years.

In the States of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry the language, culture, customs, problems, living conditions and lifestyle are common. Hence, now we would like to form into a canonical entity, by joining these three Ecclesiastical Provinces of  Madras-Mylapore, Madurai and Pondicherry and Cuddalore as per Canon 433, calling it an ECCLESIASTICAL REGION.

For more details: Ecclesiastical Region – Statutes 2011