Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilaw

The Diocese of Chilaw (Lat: Dioecesis Chilavensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.

Diocese of Chilaw Dioecesis Chilavensis சிலாபம் மறைமாவட்டம்
Location
Country	Sri Lanka
Ecclesiastical province	Colombo
Metropolitan	Colombo
Statistics
Area	2,076 km2 (802 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 1235) 788,000 272,692 (34.6%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	5 January 1939
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Chilaw
Patron saint	Sacred Heart of Jesus
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Arachchige Jayasuriya
Metropolitan Archbishop	Malcolm Ranjith
Vicar General	Rev. Fr. Ashok Priyantha Perera
Episcopal Vicars	Rev. Fr. Patrick Wijesinghe
Website
chilawdiocese.org

Erected as the Diocese of Galle in 1939, the diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Colombo. In 1995, part of the diocese was split off to form the Diocese of Kurunegala.

The current bishop is Don Wimal Siri Appuhamy Jayasuriya, who was appointed in December 2023.^[1]

St. Mary's Cathedral, Chilaw

Ordinaries

• Louis Perera, O.M.I. † (5 Jan 1939 Appointed - 8 Apr 1939 Died)
• Edmund Peiris, O.M.I. † (12 Jan 1940 Appointed - 27 Dec 1972 Resigned)
• Frank Marcus Fernando, † (27 Dec 1972 Succeeded - 19 Oct 2006 Retired)
• Valence Mendis, (19 Oct 2006 Succeeded - 9 Oct 2021 Appointed, Bishop of Kandy)

See also

• Catholic Church in Sri Lanka