The following is a list of living Catholic bishops of India sorted by ecclesiastical province and diocese. The bishops of India include two major archbishops, one each of the Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankara church, and one of the four titular patriarchs of the Latin Church. There are 6 Indian cardinals. All the Catholic bishops of India are members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.
A summary of the number of bishops in India: [note 1]
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It is one of the major archiepiscopal churches of the Catholic Church. It is headed by Major Archbishop Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India. With more than 1096 parishes, it is one of India's biggest church evangelical establishments.
The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. It is the largest Syriac Christian church and the largest Eastern Catholic church. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed to investigate a special circumstance in a diocese or country, and to submit a report to the Holy See at the conclusion of the investigation.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry (Syriac: ܐܦܪܟܝܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܕܫܢܓܢܐܣܐܪܐ, romanized: Afarkaya Rabbta d-Shanganasara; Malayalam: ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി അതിരൂപത, romanized: Changanassery Atirūpata) is a Catholic East-Syriac Rite archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Thomas Tharayil is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving from 2024.Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.
The Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly is the major archeparchy and the see of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It has been the major archeparchy since 1992 when the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church was elevated to the status of a major archiepiscopal church with Ernakulam-Angamaly as the primatal see. The major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly is the main bishop of the jurisdiction, at the same time the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The eparchies of Kothamangalam and Idukki are the two suffragan eparchies of the major archeparchy.
The Archeparchy of Trichur, in Thrissur District of Central Kerala, India, with nearly half a million Syro-Malabar Catholics now, used to be the largest Catholic diocese in India when it included the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Irinjalakuda until 1978 and Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palghat until 1973. Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Irinjalakuda, also located in Thrissur District, has over a quarter million Syro-Malabar Catholics now. Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palghat in Central Kerala extends to some regions in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. In 2010, the parts of Tamil Nadu under the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palghat were separated to form another Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Ramanathapuram.
The Archeparchy of Kottayam is a Syro-Malabar Church metropolitan archeparchy of the Catholic Church in India. The archeparchy is exclusively for Knanaya faithful who claim to be the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians who migrated from South Mesopotamia to Kodungallur (Muziris) in South India in 4th century A.D.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chanda is an eparchy of the East Syriac Rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, yet suffragan of the Latin Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nagpur.
This is a timeline of the history of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India.
Bosco Puthur is an Indian Catholic prelate of the Syro-Malabar Church, who is Bishop emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne. Since 7 December 2023, he serves as Apostolic Administrator of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly in India.
George Alencherry is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the position from 2011 to 2023. He is also a cardinal of the Catholic Church.
The Eparchy of Mandya is situated in Mandya city in Mandya district of Karnataka. The eparchy includes ten civil districts of Karnataka, namely Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Ramanagara, Tumkur, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Hassan. The most recent bishop of Mandya was Antony Kariyil, who was later appointed as the Metropolitan Vicar of the Major Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly with the personal title of Archbishop on August 30, 2019. Infant Jesus Church, Henkel is the cathedral of the eparchy and the bishop's residence is at Kalenahalli, 6 km away from the city of Mandya.
Raphael Thattil is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Eastern Catholic Church, and as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly since January 2024.
Mar John "Joy" Alappatt is an Indian-born bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in the United States. He serves as the eparch of St. Thomas Eparchy of Chicago since 2022.
Jacob Manathodath is a former Bishop of Palghat. Briefly he also served as the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam, India.