Colombo in Ceylon, Archdiocese of

COLOMBO IN CEYLON, ARCHDIOCESE. - The evangelization of the island of Ceylon was begun by the Franciscans in 1517. The island depended ecclesiastically on the bishop of Goa (India); in 1558 it was placed under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Cochin, a diocese suffragan to Goa. After many vicissitudes, on 3 Dec. 1834 the apostolic vicariate of Ceylon was erected with its seat at C. On 7 Feb. 1845 the division of the apostolic vicariate of Ceylon into those of C. and Jaffna was decided. From the apostolic vicariate of C. was detached, on 2 Apr. 1883, that of Kandy, and on 1 Oct. 1884 C. was definitively exempted from the metropolitan of Goa.

By the constitution of Leo XIII Humanae salutis Auctor (1 Sept. 1886), C. was declared an archiepiscopal see and then, the following year, a metropolitan one. At present it has 5 suffragan dioceses: Chilaw, Galle, Jaffna, Kandy and Trincomalee. It is entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It has an area of 3,988 sq. km. and comprises the entire western province, which is one of the 9 provinces of Ceylon. The population is about 1,400,000 inhabitants, of whom 70% are Buddhists, 100,000 Muslims and as many Hindus, 40,000 Protestants: Catholics number 240,000, belonging 90% to the Sinhalese stock and 10% to the Tamil one. There are 120 priests of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, half European and half native, and 30 secular priests, almost all Ceylonese. The major seminary has about fifty students, of whom 14 are religious; 60 young men study in the minor seminary. The brothers, who belong to 3 different institutes, number nearly a hundred. The nuns number about 800, of whom fully 500 are native.

The number of diocesan elementary, secondary, industrial and normal schools is impressive, where more than 50,000 young people of both sexes, of whom 2/3 are Catholic, are educated.

The works of charity also flourish there, with nurseries and orphanages. Two printing houses publish, among other things, 5 Catholic periodicals. The confraternities, pious associations and associations of Catholic Action are prosperous and numerous.

Conversions, which have decreased in recent years because of the strong opposition of the Buddhists, remain above an annual average of 18 baptisms per priest.

Pompeo Borgna