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 Official Catholic Church flag. Include theAnuradhapura cross. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1,261,194(2012)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Province | |
| Western |  637,729 |
| North Western | 278,755 |
| Northern |  162,849 |
| Central | 62,476 |
| Eastern | 46,792 |
| Religions | |
| Catholicism | |
| Languages | |
TheCatholic Church in Sri Lanka is part of the worldwideCatholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of thepope inRome. The country comes under the province of Colombo and is made up of 12dioceses including one archdiocese. There are approximately 1.2 million Catholics inSri Lanka representing around 6.1% of the total population (according to the 2012 census).[2][3][4]
In 1995, at a ceremony inColombo,Pope St. John Paul II beatified FatherJoseph 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.[5] Pope Francis canonized Father Joseph Vaz onGalle Face Green, inColombo on 14 January 2015.[6]
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.[7] The Persiancross excavated in Anuradhapura belonging to the 5th century and the decorative baptismal pond excavated nearVavuniya prove the presence of Christians in Sri Lanka during the early period of theAnuradhapura Kingdom. Two crosses excavated around Anuradhapura in 1913 are said to be identical to the cross atSt Thomas Mount nearChennai.[8]
On 15 November 1505 a Portuguese fleet commanded byLourenço 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 toSt 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.
On 21 April 2019,Easter Sunday, three churches inSri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital,Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated Islamistterrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, there were smaller explosions at a housing complex inDematagoda and a guest house inDehiwala. A total of 269 people were killed,[9] including at least 45 foreign nationals,[10] three police officers, and eight bombers, and at least 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out duringEasterservices inNegombo,Batticaloa andColombo; the hotels that were bombed were theShangri-La,Cinnamon Grand,Kingsbury[11] and Tropical Inn. According to theState Intelligence Service, a second wave of attacks was planned, but was stopped as a result of government raids.[12]
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.[13]
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".[14]
| 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 |
| 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 | Kandana | |
| Chilaw | St. Anne's Shrine | Shrine | Thalawila |
| 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 |
Churches in Sri Lanka  | ||
|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic shrines |  | |
| Roman Catholic cathedrals | ||
| Anglican cathedrals | ||
| CSI cathedral | ||
| Methodist church | ||
| Christian Reformed Church | ||
| Church of Scotland | ||
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