The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram is one of the biggest episcopal territories in Kerala, with a Catholic population of nearly 280,000 people, even after the bifurcation of the Diocese of Neyyattinkara some years ago.

There are wooded highlands on the Western Ghats in the eastern and northeastern borders, and a long shoreline with internationally renowned beaches, historic monuments, backwater stretches and a rich cultural heritage.

[citation needed] With the arrival of the Portuguese but especially with the advent of the pioneer missionary Francis Xavier, Latin Catholicism spread far and wide in these parts; by the close of the sixteenth century there were well-established Christian communities along the Trivandrum coast.

In 1931, when he retired to the Carmel Hill Monastery, Thiruvananthapuram there were Christian communities established in almost all places of the interior region.

The Diocese celebrated its Golden Jubilee year in 1987, and a renewal movement was initiated by Bishop Jacob Acharuparambil.

[2] On 17 June 2004 Pope John Paul II elevated the Diocese of Trivandrum into an Archdiocese, and appointed Soosa Pakiam as its first Archbishop.