Catholics and non-Catholics celebrate the ordination of the new bishop of Chilaw
Appointed by Pope Francis on 6 December, Mgr Wimal Siri Jayasuriya was ordained last Saturday. Card Malcolm Ranjith and the country’s Catholic bishops were present at the arrival and consecration of the new prelate. Anglican and Buddhist clerics also attended the service. For the faithful, he is "a total gift from God to our diocese".
Colombo (AsiaNews) – “A total gift from God to our diocese,” is how a group of Catholic seniors described their new pastor, Mgr Wimal Siri Jayasuriya.
Appointed bishop of Chilaw, Puttalam district (Northwestern Province), by Pope Francis on 6 December, he was consecrated over the weekend during a community celebration.
“We pray to God to guide our new bishop with all the necessary vision and blessings to serve the diocese while leading all the flock on the right path,” they told AsiaNews. “We also thank God for the great service offered by the former bishop, Mgr Valence Mendis, now the Bishop of Kandy.”
The episcopal ordination was held at St Mary Cathedral in Chilaw, at 9 am last Saturday in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Brian Udaigwe, as well as all the members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka, starting with Card Malcolm Ranjit, Archbishop of Colombo.
Many priests were present as well as the Anglican bishop of Colombo and the Anglican bishop emeritus of Kurunegala. Some Buddhist monks also joined the service to congratulate the new pastor and fourth diocesan bishop.
The evening before the ordination Mass, Mgr Jayasuriya was welcomed by a group of priests and by his predecessor Bishop Mendis on the border of the diocese, at Thoppuwa junction.
Many faithful, the entire diocesan clergy and non-Catholic figures gathered on the way to Chilaw cathedral, destination of this pilgrimage.
The diocese was without a pastor for over two years and was under the administration of the last bishop, Mgr Valence Mendis.
On 6 December, the Vatican announced the appointment by Pope Francis. The new bishop, joined by the nuncio, had asked for a few days of prayer and meditation before accepting this "heavy responsibility".
Mgr Wimal Siri Jayasuriya, from the clergy of Chilaw, has long served as a parish priest at Saint Mary's Mother of God and as a judge in the Diocesan Court of Fort Wayne-South Bend, in the United States.
The new prelate was born on 23 January 1969 in Negombo, Archdiocese of Colombo. After attending the Chilaw minor seminary, he completed his studies in philosophy and theology at Our Lady of Lanka National Major Seminary in Kandy.
He was ordained a priest on 9 August 1997, for the clergy of Chilaw, and was appointed parochial vicar of St Sebastian, Katuneriya (1997-1998), St Anne's Shrine, Talawila (1998-1999), St Joseph's, Wennappuwa (1999-2000).
He earned a licentiate and doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Urban University of Rome (2000-2005), judicial vicar of Chilaw (2006-2012), professor at Our Lady of Lanka National Major Seminary, Kandy, and dean of the department of theology (2013-2019).
Since 2019, he has served as a judge in the Diocesan Court of Fort Wayne-South Bend, in the United States, parochial vicar of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral (2019-2020), pastor of St Mary Mother of God, also in Fort Wayne-South Bend since 2020.
It should be noted that the new prelate did not pursue his studies “for ranks or grades but for sheer knowledge because knowledge can be used to uplift the downtrodden.”
It is remarkable that he faithfully sacrificed his entire life for the Catholic, so much so that he frequently repeated: "My duty as a priest is to be ready to sacrifice every second of my life for the people."
(Photo: Prasad Purnaml Jayamanne)
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