The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka 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).World Religions Database at the ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-08Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08
In 1995, at a ceremony in Colombo, Pope St. John Paul II beatified Father Joseph Vaz (originally, José Vaz), an early Goan missionary to the country, who is known as the Apostle of Sri Lanka. On 17 September 2014, Pope Francis approved the vote to have him declared a saint. Zenit News Agency Article Pope Francis canonized Father Joseph Vaz on Galle Face Green, in Colombo on 14 January 2015.National Catholic Register website, article dated January 14, 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.Christmas yesteryear Daily News (Sri Lanka) Article
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.
2019 Easter bombings
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, there were smaller explosions at a housing complex in Dematagoda and a guest house in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight bombers, and at least 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo; the hotels that were bombed were the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn. According to the State Intelligence Service, a second wave of attacks was planned, but was stopped as a result of government raids.
The attack deeply shook the Christian and Catholic community of Sri Lanka, and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith spent the next years asking for clarity and answers regarding responsibility for the bombings, and justice for the victims. Ranjith has been very critical of the investigations, alleging possible collusion of the Government with the attackers, citing a Parliamentary Select Committee report to this effect.
The cardinal denies that the Church suffers persecution in Sri Lanka, saying there is a problem with human rights. "The Church is not under threat in Sri Lanka, but human rights are. In Sri Lanka, we are witnessing a struggle between the Sri Lankan population against the Government. The Government has mismanaged the economy and now we have many families without food. There is extreme poverty, and we want also to speak about this phenomenon so that the international community can help us, and not support this type of dictatorial government that does not respect human rights".
Important churches Cathedral
Dioceses Church Type Town Anuradhapura St. Joseph's Cathedral, Anuradhapura Cathedral Anuradhapura Badulla St. Mary’s Cathedral Cathedral Badulla Batticaloa St. Mary's Cathedral Cathedral Batticaloa Chilaw St. Mary's Cathedral, Chilaw Cathedral Chilaw Colombo St. Lucia's Cathedral Cathedral & seat of the Archbishop Colombo Galle St. Mary’s Cathedral Cathedral Galle Jaffna St. Mary’s Cathedral Cathedral Jaffna Kandy St. Anthony's Cathedral, Kandy Cathedral Kandy Kurunegala St. Anne's Cathedral, Kurunegala Cathedral Kurunegala Mannar St. Sebastian’s Cathedral Cathedral Mannar Ratnapura St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Ratnapura Cathedral Ratnapura Trincomalee St. Mary's Cathedral, Trincomalee Cathedral Trincomalee
National Shrines Dioceses Church Type Town Colombo Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka Shrine & Minor Basilica Ragama St. Anthony’s National Shrine Shrine Colombo St. Sebastian's Shrine Shrine KandanaChilawSt. Anne's ShrineShrineThalawila Matara Shrine of Our Lady of Matara Shrine Matara Mannar Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu Shrine Madhu Kandy St. Anthony's Church Shrine Wahakotte
See also Christianity in Sri Lanka Freedom of religion in Sri Lanka Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka List of Saints from Asia Mannar Catholic martyrs (1544)
Notes
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