Catholic Church in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Catholics

The Anuradhapura cross has 5th century history of Christians in Sri Lanka.
Total population
1,237,038 (2012)
Regions with significant populations
Province
Western	637,729
North Western	278,755
Northern	162,849
Central	62,476
Eastern	46,792
Religions
Catholicism
Languages
Sinhala Tamil

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka (Sinhala: Sri Lankavay Katholika Sabhava) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The country comes under the province of Colombo and is made up of 12 dioceses including one archdiocese. There are approximately 1.2 million Catholics in Sri Lanka representing around 6.1% of the total population (according to the 2012 census).

In 1995, at a ceremony in Colombo, Pope John Paul II beatified Father Joseph Vaz, an early missionary to the country, who is known as the Apostle of Ceylon. On 17 September 2014, Pope Francis approved the vote to have him declared a saint. Pope Francis canonized Father Joseph Vaz on Galle Face Green, in Colombo on 14 January 2015.

Early history

Records of ancient travelers to Sri Lanka report that a separate area was allocated for Christians in the ancient capital Anuradhapura and there was a Christian chapel used by the Persian merchants who came to Ceylon in around the 5th century. The Persian cross excavated in Anuradhapura belonging to the 5th century and the decorative baptismal pond excavated near Vavuniya prove the presence of Christians in Sri Lanka during the early period of the Anuradhapura Kingdom. Two crosses excavated around Anuradhapura in 1913 are said to be identical to the cross at St Thomas Mount near Chennai.

Modern history

On 15 November 1505 a Portuguese fleet commanded by Lourenço de Almeida, having been driven by a storm to the shores of Sri Lanka, landed in Colombo. With the permission of the king of Kotte, Dharma Parakramabahu IX, Almeida erected a trade station and a small chapel in Colombo. The chapel was dedicated to St Lawrence. Franciscan Friar Vicente, the chaplain of the fleet, celebrated Mass. This is the first record of a Catholic Mass on Sri Lankan soil. Over the next few centuries, Portuguese, Dutch, and Irish missionaries spread the religion in Sri Lanka, most notably on the western and northwestern coast, where in some places Catholics are half the population.

Important churches

St. Lucia's Cathedral, Colombo

Dioceses	Church	Type	Town
Anuradhapura	St. Joseph’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Anuradhapura
Badulla	St. Mary’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Badulla
Batticaloa	St. Mary's Cathedral	Cathedral	Batticaloa
Chilaw	St. Mary’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Chilaw
Colombo	St. Lucia’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Colombo
	St. Mary's Church, Negombo	Cathedral	Negombo
	St. Sebastian's Church, Negombo	Cathedral	Negombo
	Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka	National Shrine	Tewatta, Ragama
	St. Anthony’s National Shrine	Archdiocesan Shrine	Colombo
Galle	St. Mary’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Galle
Jaffna	St. Mary’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Jaffna
Kandy	St. Anthony’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Kandy
Kurunegala	St. Anne’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Kurunegala
Mannar	St. Sebastian’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Mannar
Ratnapura	Ss. Peter & Paul Cathedral	Cathedral	Ratnapura
Trincomalee	St. Mary’s Cathedral	Cathedral	Trincomalee

See also

• Christianity in Sri Lanka
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka
• List of Saints from Asia

References

• history of Catholicism in Sri Lanka

External links

• The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka by GCatholic.org
• Profile of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ceylon" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.