On the feast of St. Peter and St Paul, the Holy Father has appointed His Lordship  Most Rev. Dr. Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam as as the new Bishop of Jaffna. His Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Justin Bernard Gnanapragasam retires after 11 years as the Bishop of Jaffna at the age of 78.

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Bishop Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam was born on 23 September 1966 in Jaffna, in Sri Lanka. He carried out his primary and secondary studies in Colombo and in Jaffna. He studied philosophy in the Saint Francis Xavier Major Seminary of Jaffna, and theology in the Kandy National Seminary.

 

He holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Jaffna, a Master’s degree in education from the University of Middlesex, United Kingdom, and a Master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Jaffna.

He was ordained a priest on 16 September 2000 in Saint Lucia’s Cathedral in Colombo, for the  archdiocese of Colombo.

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Following priestly ordination, he was first part of the staff of Saint Peter’s College, Colombo (2000-2004), and then attended a Master’s degree course at the University of Middlesex in the United Kingdom (2004-2005). He subsequently held the following roles: member of staff at Saint Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa (2006-2007) and at Saint Joseph’s College, Colombo (2007-2012); and vice-rector of Saint Peter’s College, Colombo (2012-2014). From 2014 to 2020 he has served as vice-rector of Saint Joseph’s College, Colombo, and from 2009 to 2020, as director of the Tamil Theologate.

Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo on 13.07.2020 he was consacrated on 29.08.2020 by His Eminence Malcolm Card. Ranjith.

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His Lordship will lead 71 parishes and more than 205 priests.

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We wish Ad multos annos to the newly appointed Bishop of Jaffna!

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by Riccardo Nelumdeniya