St. Thomas' Cathedral, Vaddukoddai

Church in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka

St. Thomas' Cathedral
Cathedral Church at Vaddukoddai

St. Thomas' CathedralLocation within Northern Province
09°43′45.70″N 79°56′56.60″E / 9.7293611°N 79.9490556°E / 9.7293611; 79.9490556
Location	Vaddukoddai
Country	Sri Lanka
Denomination	United
History
Status	Cathedral
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Archaeological protected monument
Designated	30 December 2011
Administration
Diocese	Jaffna
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Daniel Thiagarajah

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

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. In May 1904 the Congregational Council of Ceylon (CCC) was set-up to administer ACM's churches. 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. UCSIC joined with the South India Synod of the Presbyterian Church to form the South India United Church (SIUC) in 1908/09. 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.

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

References

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

v t e Churches in Sri Lanka
Roman Catholic shrines	Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu Shrine of Our Lady of Matara St. Anthony's Shrine, Wahakotte
Roman Catholic cathedrals	St. Lucia's Cathedral St. Mary's Cathedral, Badulla St. Mary's Cathedral, Batticaloa St. Mary's Cathedral, Galle St. Mary's Cathedral, Jaffna St. Sebastian's Cathedral, Mannar
Anglican cathedrals	Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour Cathedral of Christ the King, Kurunegala
CSI cathedral	St. Thomas' Cathedral, Vaddukoddai
Methodist church	Methodist Church, Pettah
Christian Reformed Church	Wolvendaal Church Dutch Reformed Church, Kalpitiya Dutch Reformed Church, Matara Groote Kerk, Galle
Church of Scotland	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Colombo Scots Kirk, Kandy

Topics on Northern Province, Sri Lanka

History

Geography

Districts	Jaffna District Kilinochchi District Mannar District Mullaitivu District Vavuniya District

Politics

Economy

Transportation

Airports	Iranamadu Airport Jaffna International Airport Vavuniya Airport
Highways	A9 A14 A29 A30 A32 A34 A35
Railways	Mannar Line Northern Line Yal Devi

Society

Culture	Architecture Art Cinema (Sri Lankan Tamil cinema) Education Literature Music Sport Dance Cuisine Festivals
Demographics	Demographic history Language demographics
Education	List of schools University of Jaffna
Healthcare	List of hospitals Jaffna Teaching Hospital
Religion	Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna Roman Catholic Diocese of Mannar

Symbols