Ernakulam, Vicariate Apostolic of

In May, 1887, the churches of Syrian Rite in Malabar were separated from those of the Latin Rite and formed into the Vicariates of Trichur and Kottayam under European prelates. In response, however, to the petitions of the Syrian Catholics desirous of obtaining bishops of their own race and rite, Leo XIII by his brief "Quae Rei Sacrae" (28 July, 1896) divided the territory anew into three vicariates: Trichur, Changanacherry, and Ernakulam.