Diocese of Eluru
About
The Diocese of Eluru was bifurcated from the Diocese of Vijayawada on 26 February 1977 and comprises the entire West Godavari district along with four mandals of Konaseema in East Godavari, bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the south, the River Godavari in the east, the Diocese of Vijayawada in the west and the Diocese of Khammam in the north. Covering an area of 10,775 sq. km, the diocese has a total population of about 75 lakh, with nearly 3.5 lakh Catholics spread across 115 parishes; its mission territory earlier formed part of the Hyderabad Apostolic Vicariate, later the Bezwada mission sui juris from 1933, and subsequently the Diocese of Vijayawada until 1977. The earliest Catholic presence was recorded at Narsapur in 1646 under Fr. Antonio de Christo, while Eluru itself saw renewed missionary growth from 1864 with the arrival of PIME missionaries, especially Fr. Silvio Pasquali, regarded as the Apostle of Eluru, after which Eluru emerged as a major Catholic centre of the Telugu region.
