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Thomas Cooray

His Eminence
Thomas Benjamin Cooray
Servant of God
Archbishop Emeritus of Colombo
Church Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese Colombo
Metropolis Colombo
See Colombo
Predecessor Jean-Marie Masson, O.M.I.
Successor Nicholas Fernando
Other posts Cardinal-Priest of Santi Nereo e Achilleo (1965-1988)
Orders
Ordination 23 June 1929
Consecration 14 December 1945
by Leo Peter Kierkels
Created Cardinal 22 February 1965
by Pope Paul VI
Rank Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name Thomas Benjamin Cooray
Born (1901-12-28)December 28, 1901
Negombo, Ceylon
Died 29 October 1988(1988-10-29) (aged 86)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Buried Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka
Previous post
  • Titular Archbishop of Perslavus (1945-1947)
  • Coadjutor Archbishop of Colombo (1945-1947)
  • President of the Sri Lankan Episcopal Conference (1970-1977)
Motto Ministrare non ministrari ("To serve, not to be served")
Sainthood
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Title as Saint Servant of God
Styles of
Thomas Cooray
External Ornaments of a Cardinal Bishop.svg
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Colombo (Emeritus)

Thomas Benjamin Cooray (Sinhala language: තෝමස් බෙන්ජමින් කුරේ), O.M.I. (28 December 1901 – 29 October 1988) was a Sri Lankan cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Colombo from 1947 to 1976, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965 by Pope Paul VI.

His cause of canonization commenced in 2010 and he has been bestowed with the title of Servant of God.

Thomas Benjamin Cooray was born to a poor but religious family in Negombo, and attended St. Aloysius Seminary in Borella, and St. Joseph's College and University College in Colombo before going to Rome, where he studied at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), obtaining a doctorate in philosophy summa cum laude. After entering the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 23, 1929. Finishing his Roman studies in 1931, he then did pastoral work in Colombo until 1945, whilst teaching at St. Joseph's College and serving as a university chaplain. He also became rector of the Oblate seminary in Sri Lanka.


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