St. Thomas' Cathedral, Vaddukoddai

St. Thomas' Cathedral is the seat of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India located in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka.

St. Thomas' Cathedral
Cathedral Church at Vaddukoddai
St. Thomas' Cathedral
Location within Northern Province
09°43′45.70″N 79°56′56.60″E
LocationVaddukoddai
CountrySri Lanka
DenominationUnited
History
StatusCathedral
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationArchaeological protected monument
Designated30 December 2011
Administration
DioceseJaffna
Clergy
Bishop(s)Daniel Thiagarajah

History

Portuguese Jesuits built a Catholic church in Vaddukoddai in the 1660s which was later taken over and renovated by the Dutch before being handed over to the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) by the British.[1][2] In May 1904 the Congregational Council of Ceylon (CCC) was set-up to administer ACM's churches.[3][4] CCC joined together with the American Madura Mission and the London Missionary Society in Travancore to form the United Churches of South India and Ceylon (UCSIC) in 1905.[4] UCSIC joined with the South India Synod of the Presbyterian Church to form the South India United Church (SIUC) in 1908/09.[3][4] The Church of South India was established in September 1947 as a union of the SIUC, South India Provincial Synod of Methodist Church and the southern dioceses of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon.[3][4][5][6]

The cathedral was declared an archaeological protected monument in December 2011.[7]

References
  1. Aravinthan, Arani (14 October 2008). "Vaddukoddai takes a festival grandeur". Sri Lanka Guardian.
  2. "Jaffna Celebrates 175th Year of American Ceylon Mission". Union of Catholic Asian News. 9 October 1991.
  3. "LTTE - A Hindu Separatist Movement?". Ilankai Tamil Sangam.
  4. "Exclusive News" (PDF). Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India. June 2010.
  5. "History". Church of South India.
  6. "Church of South India". World Council of Churches. Archived from the original on 2008-06-11.
  7. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 1739: 1093. 30 December 2011.


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