Celebrations to honour“founders” of the Church in Sri Lanka
(July 20,2010) The Church in Sri Lanka is celebrating the 270th anniversary of the
death of Fr. Jacome Gonsalves (1676-1742), considered the “father of Catholic
literature in Sri Lanka”, and the 300th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Joseph
Vaz, viewed as the founder of the Catholic Church in the island nation. Fr Gonsalves
played a crucial role in the spread of the Catholic faith in Sri Lanka by writing
for the first time religious texts in Sinhalese and Tamil, thus enabling the local
population to learn and adopt the Catholic faith. In addition to some 20 religious
books, he also published a catechism. This year is also the 300th anniversary
of the birth of Fr Joseph Vaz, “the Apostle of Ceylon”, beatified in 1995 by late
Pope John Paul II. Born in 1651, when Sri Lanka was a Dutch colony, blessed Vaz was
a priest, who consolidated the Catholic Church at a time when the official religion
was Calvinism and Catholics were subjected to widespread persecution. “We can
consider Blessed Joseph Vaz and Fr Jacome Gonsalves, his most famous disciple, as
the founders of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka,” said Fr Alex Dassanayake, member
of the Joseph Vaz Anniversary Committee, in a statement published on Monday in Colombo’s
Catholic weekly- “The Messenger”. In order to celebrate the two anniversaries,
a national service is planned at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatte. Meetings
and catechism lectures have been organised to raise awareness about Blessed Joseph
Vaz. In addition, prayers and special hymns will be held after Sunday functions in
each of the country’s diocese and parish.