Jaffna, Diocese of. — It was formerly an apostolic vicariate erected in 1845 with the division of the Vicariate of Ceylon. On 1 October 1884 it was definitively exempted from the jurisdiction of Goa, and on 1 September 1886 it was raised to the status of a diocese. It is entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and is a suffragan of Colombo. It borders the dioceses of Trincomalee, Kandy, and the archdiocese of Colombo. It has an area of 16,159 sq. km. and extends over the northern regions of the Island of Ceylon.
The entire population numbers about half a million, of whom 65,000 are Catholics, 7,000 Protestants, 22,000 Muslims, and the rest pagans. There are about ninety priests working in the diocese, almost all Oblates of Mary Immaculate; two-thirds of them are indigenous.
Ecclesiastically, it is divided into 3 districts, 31 parishes, 7 primary stations, and 203 secondary stations. There are 104 churches with a capacity of over 400 people and 137 chapels. There are numerous elementary, middle, and high schools dependent on the diocesan ecclesiastical authority, with over 15,000 pupils. The charitable institutions are quite flourishing: 4 orphanages accommodate about 300 boys and girls, and a home for the elderly houses about 60 individuals. The full associations of Catholic Action have been established. More than 150 nuns, both native and foreign, provide valuable assistance to the missionaries. A minor seminary has recently been founded. For studies in philosophy and theology, the clergy are sent to the Regional Seminary of Colombo or to the Pontifical Seminary of Kandy. The mission also has a printing press that produces two periodicals: the *Catholic Guardian* (400 copies) and the *Tamil Guardian* (800 copies).