Christianity in Sri Lanka

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Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. Roman Catholicism was introduced by the Portuguese in 1505. There were conversions by Dutch persons in the 17th century, which resulted in a percentage of church members in excess of 10%. This figure decreased. The Christian population of Sri Lanka includes members of both the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups.

[edit] Roman Catholic Church

Distribution of Christians in Sri Lanka. This includes all Christian denominations and are from 2001 census except for the the districts where the number is in cursive; these are from 1981 census.^[1]

About 7% of the population (1,400,000 persons) are Roman Catholic. There is a Roman Catholic archbishop and 10 other Roman Catholic bishops. The other dioceses are:

1. Diocese of Anuradhapura
2. Diocese of Badulla
3. Diocese of Chilaw
4. Diocese of Galle
5. Diocese of Jaffna
6. Diocese of Kandy
7. Diocese of Kurunegala
8. Diocese of Mannar
9. Diocese of Ratnapura
10. Diocese of Trincomalee-Batticaloa

[edit] Protestants

About 160 000 persons in Sri Lanka (0,8%) are Protestants. There are about 2000 people (1998) affiliated with congregations belonging to the Baptist World Alliance. The Lanka Lutheran Church has about 1,200 members.

There has been a significant growth of evangelical Christianity since 1980. The main protestant churches in Sri Lanka are Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and Salvation Army. The Anglican church has a strong effect on people in some areas. Methodist missionaries established 187 school of which only 2 remains (Wesley College and Methodist College) because all the other schools were taken over by the government. Methodism has over 40 000 followers in Sri Lanka with 45 circuits, 200 churches and 120 pastors. Moratuwa Area and Kutunayake Negombo Areas are the regions where many Methodist live. In 2005 and 2006 the Methodist Church of Sri lanka had a very difficult time during a period of anti-Christian violence.

[edit] See also

• Religion in Sri Lanka
• Roman Catholicism in Sri Lanka
• Protestantism by country
• Lanka Lutheran Church
• Status of religious freedom in Sri Lanka
• Apostolic church sri lanka Official website

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Open Doors Int'l, Sri Lanka
• Adherents.com, Religion by Location, Sri Lanka
• SriLankanChristians.com