JAFFNA, Diocese of. - It was formerly an apostolic vicariate erected in 1845 with the division of the vicariate of Ceylon. On 1 Oct. 1884 it became definitively exempt from the jurisdiction of Goa, and on 1 Sept. 1886 it was elevated to a diocese. It is entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and is a suffragan of Colombo. It borders on the dioceses of Trincomalee and Kandy and on the archdiocese of Colombo. It has an area of 16,159 km2 and extends over the northern regions of the Island of Ceylon.
The entire population reaches half a million inhabitants, of whom 65,000 are Catholics, 7,000 Protestants, 22,000 Muslims, and the rest pagans. About ninety priests work there, almost all of them Oblates of Mary Immaculate; two thirds of them are natives.
Ecclesiastically it is divided into 3 districts, 31 parishes, 7 primary stations and 203 secondary ones. There are 104 churches with a capacity of more than 400 people, and 137 chapels. The elementary, middle and high schools dependent on the diocesan ecclesiastical authority are numerous, and the number of pupils is considerable, over 15,000. The charitable institutions are quite flourishing: 4 orphanages take in about 300 boys and girls, and a home for the aged houses about 60 individuals. The pious associations and those of Catholic Action are efficient. More than 150 nuns, both native and foreign, are of valuable help to the missionaries. A minor seminary has recently been founded. For studies in philosophy and theology the clerics are sent to the regional Seminary of Colombo or to the Pontifical Seminary of Kandy. The mission also possesses a printing press, from which two periodicals are issued: the Catholic Guardian (400 copies) and the Tamil Guardian (800 copies).
Bibliography2 works
Pompeo Borgna