Colombo, Ceylon, archdiocese of
Colombo, Ceylon, archdiocese of
Comprises the Western, and Northwestern provinces; reestablished 1886 ; suffragan sees, Galle, Jaffna, Kandy, and Trincomalee; entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the diocesan clergy. The island was first evangelized by the Franciscans . Odoric de Pordenone baptized many there in 1323 , and with the rapid spread of Christianity after 1500 a diocese was erected with Don Juan de Monteiro as first bishop. Under the Dutch in the 17th century the see fell into abeyance.