About the Diocese
The diocese of Chingleput was carved out from the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore in 2002. Most Rev. Dr. A. Neethinathan is the first bishop of this new diocese. The diocese of Chingleput comprises two civil districts namely Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram covering an area of 4393 Sq. Kms. In the beginning we had 64 parishes with a catholic population 1,12,000. At present we are having 111 parishes with 261 sub-stations and the catholic population has also steadily increased to 1,60,000. Out of these 111 parishes 72 are in interior rural area and some of the sub-stations are at a distance of 8 to 10 Kms from the parish centre.
Athur is a remote rural place located in the diocese of chingleput. It is near the high road between kancheepuram and Chingleput. There are more than 300 visiting to our church for holy mass on Sunday and days of obligation. Since the chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima many faithful take part in the novena on 13th of every month and every Saturday come to pray in the church. The parish is located near Chingleput and it is only two kilometers away from the bishop’s house. It was a substation for more than 30 years St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Chingleput and it was raised as independent parish in the year 2017. The catholic population is around 400. Since the present chapel is very small we do not have enough space to accommodate all the people inside the church during liturgical celebrations.
