Roman Catholic Diocese of Anuradhapura

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Anuradhapura (Lat: Dioecesis Anuradhapurensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.

Diocese of Anuradhapura Dioecesis Anuradhapurensis அநுராதபுரம் மாவட்ட
Location
Country	Sri Lanka
Ecclesiastical province	Colombo
Metropolitan	Colombo
Statistics
Area	10,727 km2 (4,142 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2012) 1,110,904 12,703 (1.1%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Joseph in Anuradhapura
Patron saint	Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Norbert Marshall Andradi
Metropolitan Archbishop	Malcolm Ranjith

Originally erected as the apostolic prefecture of Anuradhapura, the prefecture was created from territory in the Diocese of Jaffna and the Diocese of Trincomalee-Batticaloa.

The prefecture was elevated to a full diocese in 1982, and is a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Colombo.

Norbert Marshall Andradi, appointed in 2003, is the bishop.

St. Joseph's Cathedral, possibly the oldest church in Sri Lanka, was founded by the Portuguese missionary Pedro de la Fonseca in 1544. The present building dates from 1845.^[1]

Ordinaries

• Henry Swithin Thomas Alexander Wijetunge Goonewardena, O.M.I. † (20 Dec 1975 Appointed - 2 Nov 1995 Resigned)
• Oswald Thomas Colman Gomis (2 Nov 1995 Appointed - 6 Jul 2002 Appointed, Archbishop of Colombo)
• Norbert Marshall Andradi, O.M.I. (14 Nov 2003 Appointed - )

See also

• Catholic Church in Sri Lanka