The apostolic bull ” Ad Chisti Nomen” of His Holiness Pope Pius Xl on 14th July 1930 bifurcated the Archdiocese of Verapoly and erected the Diocese of Vijayapuram. The headquarters of the newly erected diocese is in Kottayam municipal town. There was an oriental Catholic diocese named Kottayam since 1887. So the formators of the diocese decided to name the new diocese Vijayapuram as it was the part of the city and also it was the centre of the mission activities of the diocese.

The diocese is characterized by its multiple specialties. It comprises the entire civil districts of Kottayam, Idukki and partial portions of the districts of Alapuzha, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta. The diocese has an area of 9000 square kilometers. The highest mountain in South India is situated in the diocese, so also the lowest part of the state is also within the boundary of the diocese. The demographic structure is amazing. It includes migrated Christians from the Archdiocese of Verapoly, the dioceses of Cochin and Quilon. People from erstwhile Madras State also migrated to the high ranges. Our Lord’s missionary mandate “You are to go into the entire world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere” is literally carried out in the diocese a~ its faithful originate from various castes, clans and tribes.

Many factors induced the formation of the diocese of Vijayapuram. . The presence of the Catholics in the diocese is mainly due to rapid migration from within and outside the State.

The zealous evangelization of the missionaries called the sons of tire soil to faith.

The Latin Catholics formation in the diocese was in various ways and in different phases. The first phase, of the history begins at the middle of the 18th century by the migration of some Latin Catholics from the diocese of Cochin to Vaisiambhagom, Nedumudy, Kanjipadam and its vicinities. The flow of these people from Cochin is related to the request of Chembakassery local king for constructing a palace in 1750. Among various opinions it is considered as more close to the historical facts. The presences of high rate of masons among the present parishioners support this suggestion. They are considered as the fore-runners and the first members of the diocese.

The second stage began at the first half of the 19th century. At this time people from different parishes of the diocese of Quilon reached Maramon, Ranny, Vanavathukara, Thiruvalla, Changanassery and Poovam. The high ranges of the eastern side began to be used for the cultivation of tea by the second half of the 19th century. This ignited the third phase of migration. People from Verapoly, Cochin and from different parts of Tarnilnadu settled down in this area for different jobs. As time passed tea plantations developed and the high ranges became habitable, lot of people migrated with family members and settled in Mundakayam, Peermade, Vandiperiyar, Pambanar, Kumily, Munnar, and Devikulam. The priests from Verapoly met the spiritual needs of all these people.

The Archdiocese of Verapoly stretched out from Ponnani River to the banks of Pamba. It was so extensive that the minimum number of priests could not render their service to all the parts of the diocese. So the faithful at different parts cf the present Vijayapuram diocese were deprived of the spiritual assistance for their growth in faith. Even though they were just like sheep without shepherd, it is interesting to note that they kept their religiosity active and alive. The spiritual upraise of the people began with the intervention of Bro. Rocky OCD in this region.