Malcolm Ranjith

Patabendige Don Albert Malcolm Ranjith (; born 15 November 1947) is a Sri Lankan Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Colombo since 2009. He was made a cardinal in 2010.

Ranjith previously served as auxiliary bishop of Colombo (1991–1995), Bishop of Ratnapura (1995–2001), Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (2001–2004), Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia and East Timor (2004–2005), and Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (2005–2009).

Early life and education

Patabendige Don Albert Malcolm Ranjith was born on 15 November 1947 in Polgahawela, in what was then British Ceylon, to Patabendige Don William and Hettiarachchige Mary Winifred Perera. He had three younger sisters. Ranjith attributed his first interest in becoming a priest to the example set by a French missionary priest assigned to his parish. He studied in Rome, earning a degree in theology from the Pontifical Urban College and a licentiate from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1978, followed by postdoctoral work at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

On 29 June 1975, Ranjith was ordained to the priesthood by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter's Square. Later he joined the tutorial staff of St. Thomas' College, Kotte.

First appointments in Sri Lanka

Pope St. John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and titular bishop of Cabarsussi on 17 June 1991. He received his episcopal consecration on 31 August 1991 from Nicholas Fernando, Archbishop of Colombo.

In 1994, Ranjith led a commission that denounced the theological work of Sri Lankan theologian Tissa Balasuriya. He charged that Balasuriya had questioned original sin and the divinity of Christ, as well as supported women's ordination. Ranjith was supported in this position by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI).

He was responsible for coordinating the visit of Pope John Paul to Sri Lanka in January 1995. On 2 November 1995 Pope St. John Paul named him the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka.

Diplomatic and curial posts

On 1 October 2001 Pope John Paul assigned him to the post of adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He was also named head of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

He was appointed titular archbishop of Umbriatico and the Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia and to East Timor on 29 April 2004. His appointment was unusual in that, unlike almost all nuncios, he was not a graduate of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Ranjith was the first Sri Lankan to be appointed an apostolic nuncio.

Ranjith was appointed secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 10 December 2005. He developed a reputation as a liturgical conservative. He held that receiving communion in the hand was an "illegitimate" practice never envisioned by the Second Vatican Council. He criticized bishops who did not promptly make provision for the celebration of Mass in Latin when Pope Benedict authorized it in 2006, calling it "rebellion against the pope".

He once said, "I'm not a fan of the Lefebvrians ... but what they sometimes say about the liturgy they say for good reason."

Ranjith is fluent in ten languages: Italian, French, German, Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, Latin, English, Sinhala and Tamil.

Archbishop of Colombo

On 16 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Colombo.

Ranjith was among 34 metropolitan archbishops to receive his pallium from Pope Benedict on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June 2009.

On 7 October 2009, Ranjith issued liturgical guidelines for his diocese. These included a recommendation for "all faithful, including the religious, to receive Holy Communion reverently kneeling and on the tongue", as well as laymen being forbidden from preaching.

Cardinal

On 20 October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI announced he would make Ranjith a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 20 November 2010. He was given the rank of cardinal priest and assigned the titular church of San Lorenzo in Lucina.

Ranjith participated as a cardinal-elector in the 2013 conclave which elected Pope Francis.

Ranjith is a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

He has been considered to be '' papabile'' by observers, meaning that he is thought of as a potential next Pope.

In July 2024, Ranjith voiced his opposition to the introduction of two bills aimed at supporting same-sex marriages in Sri Lanka.

In October 2024, Ranjith banned priests from allowing women to serve at the altar, stating that male altar servers are "one of the main sources of vocations to the priesthood in Sri Lanka, and it will affect the number of candidates entering the seminaries, he risk of whichwe cannot take."

Ranjith was once again a cardinal elector in the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranjith, Malcolm
Living people
1947 births
20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cardinals
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Sri Lanka
21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops
Apostolic nuncios to Indonesia
Apostolic nuncios to Timor-Leste
Anti-same-sex-marriage activists
Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI
Pontifical Urban University alumni
Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni
Roman Catholic auxiliary bishops of Colombo
Roman Catholic archbishops of Colombo
Sri Lankan Roman Catholic archbishops
Officials of the Roman Curia