Roman Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada

Diocese of Vijayawada

*Dioecesis Viiayavadanus*
Diocese of Vijayawada; Dioecesis Viiayavadanus
	Saints Peter and Paul
Secular priests	276
Language	Telugu, English
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Thelagathoti J. Raja Rao, S.M.M.
Metropolitan Archbishop	Prakash Mallavarapu
Vicar General	Msgr. Muvvala Prasad,; Msgr. Mesapam Gabriel;
Map
Website
	www.vijayawadadiocese.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada (

Diocese of Vijayawada has the largest catholic population(.35 million) among all the Suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of Visakhapatnam

.

History

10 January 1933: Established as
Diocese of Hyderabad
13 April 1937: Promoted as Diocese of Bezwada
21 October 1950: Renamed as Diocese of Vijayawada

As of 2017 the Catholic population of the diocese was 3,50,000. These Catholics were served by 189 diocesan priests and 32 priests of religious orders in 98 parishes. Also laboring in the diocese were 37 religious brothers, and 795 nuns

Leadership

Bishop Thelagathoti J. Raja Rao, S.M.M. (2 February 2016 – Present)
Bishop Prakash Mallavarapu (26 July 2002 – 3 July 2012); named Metropolitan Archbishop of Visakhapatnam
Bishop Marampudi Joji (Later Archbishop) (8 November 1996 – 29 January 2000)
Bishop Joseph S. Thumma (23 January 1971 – 8 November 1996)
Bishop
P.I.M.E.
(13 December 1951 – 23 January 1971)

Parishes

St.Paul's Cathedral	St.Peter's Co-Cathedral	Agiripalli
Ajitsinghnagar	Arugolanu	Assisi nagar (Konkepudi)
Avanigadda	Avutapalli (Peda Avutapalli)	Azzampudi
Bantumilli	Bhaskarao Peta (Vijayawada)	Bhyravapatnam
Bodavada- Jammavaram	Carmel Nagar (Vijayawada)	Challapalli
Chanubanda	Chatrai	Chillakallu
Christurajupuram (Vijayawada)	Edara	Edulagudem
Enikepadu	Gampalagudem	Gannavaram
Gollapudi (Vijayawada)	Goodmanpeta	Gudivada
Gudlavalleru	Gunadala	Guntupalli (Vijayawada)
Jagannadhapuram	Jaggayyapeta	Jeevan Nagar (Jakkampudi)
Jojinagar (Vijayawada)	Jyothinagar	Kaikaluru
Kalidindi	Kambhampadu	Kanchikacherla
Kankipadu (Vijayawada)	Kanuru (Vijayawada)	Keesara
Kesarapalli	Koduru	Kondapalli
Kondapavuluru	Korukollu	Kotapadu
Kothapalli	Kuchipudi	Labbipeta (Vijayawada)
Lourdhunagar (Vijayawada)	Machilipatnam	Mallavalli
Manginapudi	Mariapuram (Lakshmipuram)	Muchintala
Mudinepalli	Munagalapalli	Musunuru
Mylavaram	Nagayalanka	Nandigama
Nawabupeta	Nehrupeta	Nunna
Nuzvid	Paidurupadu	Pamarru
Peda-mustabad	Pedana	Penamaluru (Vijayawada)
Penugolanu	Pezzonipeta (Vijayawada)	Polukonda
Raja Rajeswaripeta (Vijayawada)	Ramanakkapeta	Ranigarithota (Vijayawada)
Sahaya Nagar (Ibrahimpatnam)	Saradanagar	Satynarayanapuram (Vijayawada)
Siluvagirinagar	Telaprolu	Theresanagar
Thukkuluru	Thurlapadu	Tiruvuru
Uppaluru	Vanukuru	Vatsavai
Velagalagudem	Vellaturu	Velpuru (Vijayawada)
Vennanapudi	Ventrapragada	Vissannapeta
Vuyyuru	Yesupuram

Shrines

Gunadala Matha Shrine
Br Joseph Thamby Shrine Avutapally
Lourdu Matha Shrine, Vennanapudi

Seminaries

St. Ambrose Minor Seminary, Nuzivid (1957)
Angel Minor Seminary, Nuzivid
St.Paul's Regional Seminary(1984)
St.Joseph's Major Seminary, Chinavutapalli (2000)

Education

As of 2019, the diocese has 27 Elementary schools, 9 Upper primary Schools, 50 High Schools, 3 Higher Secondary Schools, 10 Colleges, 2 Nursing training Institutes, 10 Non-Formal training centers, 16 Parish Elementary Schools departing education from pre-kindergarten through Post Graduation.

Catholic Institutions of Repute :

Andhra Loyola college
Maris Stella College
NSM Public School,
Nirmala High School
VSt.Johns, Gannavaram
Atkinsons High
St.Mary's English Medium School, Kankipadu

Media & Publications

RADIO MARIA, Vijayawada.
DIVYAVANI TV Zonal Productions, Vijayawada.
IN VINCULO CHRISTI (Published since 1957)

Saints and causes for canonisation

Servant of God Joseph Thamby, OFS^[1]

References

^ "Saints & Blessed – CCBI". Retrieved 17 October 2019.

External links

16°29′58″N 80°39′24″E / 16.4995°N 80.6567°E / 16.4995; 80.6567

[CCBI-1] "Saints & Blessed – CCBI". Retrieved 17 October 2019.

[1]