Bishop of Jaffna (Roman Catholic)
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Diocese of Jaffna Dioecesis Jaffnensis யாழ்ப்பாண மறை மாவட்டம் |
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Interior of St. Mary's Cathedral, Jaffna
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| Location | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Ecclesiastical province | Colombo |
| Metropolitan | Colombo |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 4,400 km2 (1,700 sq mi) |
| Population - Catholics |
247,315 |
| Parishes | 59 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 17 February 1845 |
| Cathedral | St. Mary's Cathedral, Jaffna |
| Secular priests | 162 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Justin Gnanapragasam |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Malcolm Ranjith |
| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Diocese of Jaffna (Latin: Dioecesis Jaffnensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese for northern Sri Lanka, that dates back as far as the time of St. Francis Xavier. The current bishop is Justin Gnanapragasam.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Jaffna was created on 17 February 1845 from the Diocese of Ceylon. On 1 September 1886 it was promoted to a diocese. On 25 August 1893 parts of diocese were transferred to newly created Diocese of Trincomalee. On 19 December 1975 parts of diocese were transferred to newly created Apostolic Prefecture of Anuradhapura. On 24 January 1981 parts of diocese were transferred to newly created Diocese of Mannar.
In 1548 St. Francis visited Mannar and came to Jaffna to persuade the king to cease his persecutions against the Christians.
In 1580, under the protection of the Portuguese, the first Catholic church was built at Jaffna. The whole peninsula having surrendered in 1591 to André Furtado de Mendonça, almost the entire population embraced Christianity. When the fort of Jaffna capitulated to the Dutch in 1658 there were in the peninsula 50 priests, 1 Jesuit college, 1 Franciscan and 1 Dominican convent, and 14 churches. For safety the famous miraculous Statue of Our Lady of Miracles, Jaffna patao ( புதுமை மாதா / Puthumai Matha 1614-1658) was smuggled out of the island by Portuguese prisoners. Since 1658, the Protectress of Jaffna is in exile in the church of Sao Pedro situated along the Mandovi river in Bainguinim, Goa, India.
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Wikipedia