Mannar martyrs
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In 1544, during the Crisis of the Sixteenth Century (1521–1597) in the Jaffna Kingdom, Cankili I killed 600 Catholic converts. Portuguese missionaries attributed the baptism, martyrdom and intercession of the Mannar Martyrs for the rapid conversion and growth of Catholicism in Sri Lanka. In a letter found in the Archives of the Society of Jesus (S.J.) dated 19 December 1561, Anrique Anriquez the first Mannar parish priest (1561–1564) gives details to how rapidly the island was converted, and churches and hospital built all around the island. The Christians of the island of Mannar were held up as a model. He wrote since their arrival, over a thousand people converted to Christianity.[1]: 43–48 A Sri Lankan trilingual film named Praana ('Praana' in Sinhala, 'Seeds' in English and 'Viththukkal' in Tamil), was made in 2022, based on this incident.