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Diocese of Trincomalee

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Diocese of Trincomalee
Dioecesis Trincomaliensis
திருகோணமலை மட்டக்களப்பு மறைமாவட்டத்தின்
Location
Country Sri Lanka
Ecclesiastical province Colombo
Metropolitan Colombo
Statistics
Area 8,397 km2 (3,242 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics
(as of 2010)
1,607,865
78,518 (4.9%)
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 25 August 1893
Cathedral St. Mary’s Cathedral, Trincomalee
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Noel Emmanuel
Metropolitan Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith
Bishops emeritus Kingsley Swampillai

The Diocese of Trincomalee (Latin: Dioecesis Trincomaliensis) is a Latin Catholic diocese for eastern Sri Lanka. The current bishop is Noel Emmanuel.

History

The Diocese of Trincomalee was created on 25 August 1893 from parts of the Archdiocese of Colombo and the Diocese of Jaffna.[1] In the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka there were two abandon regions. According to the report of Rev. FR Etinne Sameria ( omi), in 1850, in Trincomalee there were five churches with 1,500 Catholics. Every Sunday sermon was delivered in English and Tamil.[2]

The diocese was renamed Diocese of Trincomalee–Batticaloa on 23 October 1967.[1] On 19 December 1975 parts of the diocese were transferred to newly created Apostolic Prefecture of Anuradhapura.[1] The diocese was renamed Diocese of Trincomalee on 3 July 2012 after parts of the diocese were transferred to newly created Diocese of Batticaloa.[1]

Bishops

# Bishop Took office Left office
1st Charles Lavigne 1898 1913
2nd Gaston Robichez 1917 1946
3rd Ignatius Philip Trigueros Glennie 1947 1974
4th Leo Rajendram Antony 1974 1983
5th Kingsley Swampillai 1983 2015
6th Noel Emmanuel 2015

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Trincomalee is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[3]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Trincomalee — (TRINCOMALIENSIS.)

Located in Ceylon, suffragan of Colombo, was created in 1893 by a division of the diocese of Jaffna. The diocese comprises the whole of the eastern province as well as the district of Tamankuduwa. Out of a total population of 186,251 the Catholics number 8773, with 28 churches and chapels served by 13 fathers and two lay brothers of the Belgian province of the Society of Jesus, with two missionaries Apostolic. Candidates for the priesthood are sent to Kandy seminary. There are fifty-five schools with 2523 pupils, and one convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny with five inmates who conduct an orphanage attached to the convent. The bishop is Charles Lavigne, S.J. (consecrated 1887), who resides at Trincomalee.

Madras Catholic Directory, 1910.

References

Bibliography

8°34′05″N 81°14′13″E / 8.5681°N 81.2370°E