JAFFNA, DIOCESE of. — It was formerly an apostolic vicariate, erected in 1845 upon the division of the vicariate of Ceylon. On 1 Oct. 1884 it was definitively exempted from the jurisdiction of Goa, and on 1 Sept. 1886 it was raised to the rank of diocese. It is entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and is suffragan to Colombo. It borders on the dioceses of Trincomale, Kandy, and the archdiocese of Colombo. It has an area of 16,159 km2 and extends through the northern regions of the Island of Ceylon.
The total population amounts to half a million inhabitants, of whom 65,000 are Catholics, 7,000 Protestants, 22,000 Muslims, and the remainder 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 principal stations, and 203 secondary stations. There are 104 churches with a capacity of more than 400 persons, and 137 chapels. Numerous elementary, middle, and higher schools are under the authority of the diocesan ecclesiastical administration, and the number of pupils is considerable, exceeding 15,000. Charitable institutions are fairly flourishing: 4 orphanages receive approximately 300 boys and girls, and a home for the aged accommodates approximately 60 persons. Pious associations and Catholic Action are efficient. More than 150 sisters, both native and foreign, provide valuable assistance to the missionaries. A minor seminary has recently been founded. For studies in philosophy and theology, 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).