Francis Tiburtius Roche

Francis Tiburtius Roche, born the 14 April 1879 in Punnaikayal (Tamil Nadu, India) and died 17 December 1955 in Tuticorin, was an Indian (Tamil) Jesuit priest.

In 1923 he was made the first bishop of the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin.

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

He joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest on 2 October 1910.

[3] He was the first native Indian bishop of Latin Church in the modern times and he was entrusted with the first Indian Latin Catholic diocese, the Diocese of Tuticorin with native priests.