Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandy

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Denomination
  
Roman Catholic

Rite
  
Roman Rite

Area
  
5,753 km²

Metropolitan archbishop
  
Malcolm Ranjith

Sui iuris church
  
Latin Church

Pope
  
Francis

Country
  
Sri Lanka

Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandy wwwkandydiocesenetwpcontentuploads201610BB

Population - Total - Catholics
  
(as of 2011) 2,690,430 84,830 (3.2%)

Cathedral
  
Cathedral of St Anthony in Kandy

Ecclesiastical province
  
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandy (Lat: Dioecesis Kandiensis) is a suffragan diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the ecclesiastical province (covering all Sri Lanka) of the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Colombo, but depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Contents

The episcopal see is St. Anthony’s Cathedral, in Kandy. The current bishop is Joseph Vianney Fernando, appointed in 1983.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 81,293 Catholics (3.2% of 2,578,000 total) on 5,733 km² in 27 parishes and 2 missions with 51 priests (39 diocesan, 12 religious), 329 lay religious (149 brothers, 180 sisters) and 15 seminarians.

History

  • Originally erected on 20 April 1883 as the Apostolic vicariate of Kandy, on territory split off from the then diocese of Colombo (soon promoted Archdiocese of Colombo, now its Metropolitan)
  • Promoted to Diocese of Kandy on 1 September 1886, as a suffragan of the silultaneously elevated Archdiocese of Colombo.
  • On 18 December 1972, part of the diocese was split off to form the Diocese of Badulla.

    • Episcopal Ordinaries

    (all Roman Rite)

    Apostolic Vicar of Kandy
  • Clemente Pagnani, Sylvestrines (O.S.B.Silv.) (20 April 1883 Appointed - 1 September 1886 see below), Titular Bishop of Hephæstum (1879.11.12 – 1886.09.01), first as Bishop of Colombo (Sri Lanka) (1879.11.12 – 1883.04.20)
    • Suffragan Bishops of Kandy
  • Clemente Pagnani, O.S.B.Silv. (see above 1 September 1886 - death June 1911)
  • Bede Beekmeyer, O.S.B.Silv.† (19 April 1912 - death 22 May 1935)
  • Bernardo Regno, O.S.B.Silv. (27 January 1936 - retired 24 September 1958), stayed on a while as Apostolic Administrator of Kandy (1958.09.24 – 1959.07.02), during emeritate as Titular Bishop of Bagai (1958.09.24 – 1971.01.26), died 1977
  • Leo Nanayakkara, O.S.B.Silv. (2 July 1959 - 18 December 1972), next Bishop of Badulla (1972.12.18 – death 1982.05.28)
  • Appasinghe Paul Perera (17 May 1973 - death 16 May 1989)
  • Joseph Vianney Fernando (17 March 1983 - ... ), also President of Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka (1995 – 1998 and 2004.04 – 2010.04).

    • References

    Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandy Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA