Bishopric of Jaffna
| Bishopric of Jaffna | |
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Metropolitan bishopric | Archdiocese of Colombo |
| Diocesan bishop | Justin Bernard Gnanapragasam |
| Emeritus diocesan bishop | Thomas Savundaranayagam |
| founding | 1845 |
| surface | 4,400 km² |
| Parishes | 63 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| Residents | 1,493,720 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| Catholics | 240,682 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| proportion of | 16.1% |
| Diocesan priest | 97 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| Religious priest | 56 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| Catholics per priest | 1,573 |
| Friars | 97 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| Religious sisters | 227 (2013 / AP 2014 ) |
| rite | Roman rite |
| cathedral | St. Mary's Cathedral |
| Website | http://jaffnadiocese.org/ |
The Bistum Jaffna ( lat. : Dioecesis Iaffnensis ) is in Sri Lanka preferred Roman Catholic diocese based in Jaffna .
history
The diocese of Jaffna was founded on February 17, 1845 by Pope Gregory XVI. Established from the cession of territory by the Diocese of Colombo as the Apostolic Vicariate of Jaffna .
On September 1, 1886, the Apostolic Vicariate Jaffna was by Pope Leo XIII. raised to the diocese and subordinated to the Archdiocese of Colombo as a suffragan . The Diocese of Jaffna gave up on December 19, 1975 parts of its territory to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Anuradhapura . Another assignment of territory took place on January 24, 1981 to establish the diocese of Mannar .
Ordinaries
Vicars Apostolic of Jaffna
- Jean-Etienne Sémeria OMI , 1857–1868
- Christophe-Etienne Bonjean OMI, 1868–1883, then Vicar Apostolic of Colombo
- André-Théophile Mélizan OMI, 1883-1886
Bishops of Jaffna
- André-Théophile Mélizan OMI, 1886–1893, then Archbishop of Colombo
- Henri Joulain OMI, 1893-1919
- Jules-André Brault , 1919–1923
- Alfred-Jean Guyomard OMI, 1924–1950
- Jerome Emilianus Pillai OMI, 1950-1972
- Jacob Bastiampillai Deogupillai , 1972-1992
- Thomas Savundaranayagam , 1992-2015
- Justin Bernard Gnanapragasam , since 2015