Archdiocese of Colombo Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane කොළඹ අගරදගුරු පදවිය கொழும்பு உயர்மறைமாவட்டம் | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Ecclesiastical province | Colombo |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 3,838 km2 (1,482 sq mi) |
Population
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| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Cathedral | St. Lucia's Cathedral |
| Patron saint | Our Lady of Assumption |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Malcolm Ranjith |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Maxwell Silva (2012–to date) Anthony Jayakody (2018 June–to date) Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam (2020 July–to date) |
| Bishops emeritus | Vincent Marius Peiris Auxiliary Bishop (2000 - 2018) |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
TheRoman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo (Latin:Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane) is aLatin metropolitanarchdiocese of theRoman Catholic Church, whoseecclesiastical province covers allSri Lanka plus theMaldives (which are within the archbishopric). It depends on the missionaryRoman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The current archbishop of Colombo, appointed byPope Benedict XVI on 16 June 2009, is CardinalMalcolm Ranjith. He is assisted in this role by the auxiliary bishops.
The archdiocesanmother church andcathedral seat of its metropolitan archbishop isSt. Lucia's Cathedral. Its other national shrines are theBasilica of Our Lady of Lanka inTewatta andSt. Anthony's National Shrine, aminor basilica inKochchikade.
As of 2014, it pastorally served 637,729 Catholics (8.8% of 7,281,000 total) on 3,838 km2 in 128 parishes with 592 priests (313 diocesan, 279 religious), 1,560 lay religious (380 brothers, 1,180 sisters) and 292 seminarians.[1]
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It was erected as theDiocese of Ceylon, on territory split off from theDiocese of Cochin byPope Gregory XVI on December 3, 1834.[2]
Renamed as theDiocese of Colombo on February 17, 1845, having lost territory to establish the thenApostolic Vicariate of Jaffna (now asuffragan diocese).
It lost territory on April 20, 1883, to establish the thenApostolic Vicariate of Kandy (now its suffragan diocese)
Pope Leo XIII elevated it toMetropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo on September 1, 1886.
Lost territories repeatedly : on 1893.08.25 to establishDiocese of Galle andDiocese of Trincomalee, on 1939.01.05 to establishDiocese of Chilaw, all three as its suffragans
Its name was changed byPope Pius XII to theArchdiocese of Colombo in Ceylon on December 6, 1944, but was returned to simply theArchdiocese of Colombo on May 22, 1972 byPope Paul VI.
It enjoyed Papal visits formPope Paul VI (December 1970),Pope John Paul II (January 1995) andPope Francis (January 2015).
Itssuffragan sees are :
The Church of St. Theresa is aRoman Catholic church located at Thimbirigasyaya Road,Colombo,Sri Lanka. The current parish priest is Rev. Fr. Neil Dias KarunarathneC.Ss.R.
Over time the Catholic community of the area had been growing, and a Fr. James initiated a process in 1934 to construct the existing church. In 1937, a proposal was made to Fr. Giwdan, the parish priest of Bambalapitiya, to lay a foundation for a Catholic church. The bishop gave his permission, and as a result the temporary structure was built and dedicated to St. Theresa.
In 1951, construction started and in 1952 Archbishop Thomas Cooray has handed over the church to Dominican fathers. It was completed and consecrated on 7 October 1961 by Archbishop Thomas Cooray.
6°56′54″N79°51′51″E / 6.9482°N 79.8643°E /6.9482; 79.8643
