Francis Tiburtius Roche was the first bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin ( la, Tuticoren(sis)) is a unit (or 'particular Church') of the Catholic Church in the city of Tuticorin, part of the Ecclesiastical province of Madurai in India. History The diocese of Tuticorin com ...

Early life

Bishop Francis Tiburtius Roche was born in Punnaikayal on 14 April 1879. He joined the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and was ordained a priest on 2 October 1910. When the

was erected on 12 June 1923, he was appointed the first bishop of the diocese on the same day and was consecrated bishop on 23 September 1923. He is the first indigenous bishop of Latin Rite in India, in Asia, in China (first chinese bishop in 1926) and in Africa (first african bishop in 1939).

Significance

He was the first native Indian bishop of

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

in the modern times and he was entrusted with the first Indian Latin Catholic diocese, the Diocese of Tuticorin with native priests. He was succeeded by Bishop

Thomas Fernando Thomas Fernando was an Indian Roman Catholic bishop. Early life Fernando was born on 9 May 1913 in Idinthakarai, a coastal village Tirunelveli district and a Catholic parish of the Diocese of Tuticorin. Career He was ordained a priest for t ...

and died on 17 December 1955.

References

1879 births 1955 deaths Society of Jesus 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in India {{India-RC-bishop-stub