Bishop Rayappu Joseph ( ta, இராயப்பு யோசப்; 16 April 1940 – 1 April 2021) was a Sri Lanka Tamil prelate and the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Bishop of Mannar The Diocese of Mannar ( la, Dioecesis Mannarensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese for north-western Sri Lanka, administered by the Bishop of Mannar, currently Fidelis Fernando. History The Diocese of Mannar was created on 24 January 1981 from p ...

Early life and family

Joseph was born on 16 April 1940 on the island of Neduntheevu in northern

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to a practitioner of indigenous medicine Living in Cheddikulam and Mannar during his early childhood, he was educated at St. Patrick's College, Jaffna. Joseph has a

Doctor of Canon Law Doctor of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Doctor, JCD) is the doctoral-level terminal degree in the studies of canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It can also be an honorary degree awarded by Anglican colleges. It may also be abbreviated ICD ...

degree from the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

Career

Joseph was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

as a priest in December 1967. He was a professor at the St Xavier's Seminary, Jaffna. In July 1992 he was appointed

and was ordained as a bishop in October 1992. Joseph has been a vocal critic of the

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the isl ...

Sri Lankan military The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). ...

's conduct during the Sri Lankan Civil War and the country's

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

record. This has led to him being threatened by government supporters.

References

External links

* 1940 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sri Lanka Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Pontifical Urban University alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Mannar Sri Lankan Tamil activists Sri Lankan Tamil priests {{SriLanka-bio-stub