# Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo (Latin: Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane) is a Latin metropolitan archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives (which are within the archbishopric). It depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The current archbishop of Colombo, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 16 June 2009, is Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. He is assisted in this role by the auxiliary bishops.
The archdiocesan mother church and cathedral seat of its metropolitan archbishop is St. Lucia's Cathedral. Its other national shrines are the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatta and St. Anthony's National Shrine, a minor basilica in Kochchikade.

## Statistics

As of 2014, it pastorally served 637,729 Catholics (8.8% of 7,281,000 total) on 3,838 km$^2$ in 128 parishes with 592 priests (313 diocesan, 279 religious), 1,560 lay religious (380 brothers, 1,180 sisters) and 292 seminarians.

## History

It was erected as the Diocese of Ceylon, on territory split off from the Diocese of Cochin by Pope Gregory XVI on December 3, 1834.
Renamed as the Diocese of Colombo on February 17, 1845, having lost territory to establish the then Apostolic Vicariate of Jaffna (now a suffragan diocese).
It lost territory on April 20, 1883, to establish the then Apostolic Vicariate of Kandy (now its suffragan diocese)
Pope Leo XIII elevated it to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo on September 1, 1886.
Lost territories repeatedly : on 1893.08.25 to establish Diocese of Galle and Diocese of Trincomalee, on 1939.01.05 to establish Diocese of Chilaw, all three as its suffragans
Its name was changed by Pope Pius XII to the Archdiocese of Colombo in Ceylon on December 6, 1944, but was returned to simply the Archdiocese of Colombo on May 22, 1972 by Pope Paul VI.
It enjoyed Papal visits form Pope Paul VI (December 1970), Pope John Paul II (January 1995) and Pope Francis (January 2015).

## Ecclesiastical province

Its suffragan sees are :
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Anuradhapura
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Badulla
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Batticaloa
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilaw
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Galle
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandy
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Kurunegala
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Mannar
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Ratnapura
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Trincomalee

## Bishops
### Ordinaries
#### Bishops of Ceylon

* Vicente do Rosayro, C.O. (1836–1842)
* Caetano Antonio Mulsuce, C.O. (1843–1845); see below

#### Bishops of Colombo

* Caetano Antonio Mulsuce, C.O. (1845–1857); see above
* Giuseppe Maria Bravi, O.S.B. Silv. (1857–1860)
* Hilarion Silani, O.S.B. Silv. (1863–1879)
* Clemente Pagnani, O.S.B. Silv. (1879–1883), appointed Apostolic Vicar and later Bishop of Kandy
* Christophe-Etienne Bonjean, O.M.I. (1883–1886); see below

#### Archbishops of Colombo

* Christophe-Etienne Bonjean, O.M.I. (1886–1892); see above
* André-Théophile Mélizan, O.M.I. (1893–1905)
* Antoine Coudert, O.M.I. (1905–1929)
* Pierre-Guillaume Marque, O.M.I. (1929–1937)
* Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I. (1938–1944); see below

#### Archbishops of Colombo in Ceylon

* Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I. (1944–1947); see above
* Thomas Cooray, O.M.I. (1947–1972); Cardinal in 1965; see below

#### Archbishops of Colombo

* Cardinal Thomas Cooray, O.M.I. (1972–1976); see above
* Nicholas Fernando (1977–2002)
* Oswald Gomis (2002–2009)
* Malcolm Ranjith (2009–present); Cardinal in 2010

### Coadjutor Archbishops of Colombo

* Antoine Coudert, O.M.I. (1898–1905)
* Thomas Benjamin Cooray, O.M.I. (1945–1947), future Cardinal

### Auxiliary Bishops of Colombo

* Anthony de Saram (1962–1965) Titular Bishop of Tacapae; appointed Bishop of Galle
* Frank Marcus Fernando (1965–1968) Titular Bishop of Oliva; appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Chilaw
* Edmund Joseph Fernando (1968–1983) Titular Bishop of Igilgili; appointed Bishop of Badulla
* Oswald Gomis (1968–1995) Titular Bishop of Mulia; appointed Bishop of Anuradhapura; later returned here as Archbishop
* Malcolm Ranjith (1991–1995) Titular Bishop of Cabarsussi; appointed Bishop of Ratnapura; later returned here as Archbishop; future Cardinal
* Vincent Marius Joseph Peiris (2001–2018) Titular Bishop of Tacarata
* Fidelis Lionel Emmanuel Fernando (2012–2017) Titular Bishop of Horta; appointed Bishop of Mannar
* Maxwell Silva (2012–Present) Titular Bishop of Lesina
* Jayakody Aratchige Don Anton Jayakody (2018–Present) Titular Bishop of Mulli
* Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam (2020–Present) Titular Bishop of Materiana

## List of churches in the archdiocese

* Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Kandawala
* Christ the King Church, Pannipitiya
* St. Thomas' Church, Kotte
* Our Lady of Fatima Church, Battaramulla
* All Saints' Church, Borella
* St. Mary's Church, Maharagama
* Sacred Heart Church, Rajagiriya
* Holy Rosary Church, Slave Island, Colombo-02
* St. Philip Neri's Church, Pettah, Colombo-12
* St. Anthony's Church, Kollupitiya, Colombo-03
* St. Mary's Church. Bambalapitiya, Colombo-04
* St. Lawrence's Church, Wellawatte, Colombo-06
* St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade, Colombo
* Fatima Church, Maradana
* St. Joseph's Church, Grandpass, Colombo 14
* St. Mary's Church, Mattakuliya, Colombo 15
* St. James the Great Church, Mutwal, Colombo 15
* St. Sebastian's Church, Panchikawatha, Colombo 10

### St. Theresa's Church Colombo

The Church of St. Theresa is a Roman Catholic church located at Thimbirigasyaya Road, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The current parish priest is Rev. Fr. Neil Dias Karunarathne C.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.