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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Early life and family

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

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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 had a

Doctor of Canon Law Doctor of Canon Law (, 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 or dr.iur.can. (''Iuris Can ...

degree from the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...

Career

Joseph was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest in December 1967. He was a professor at the St Xavier's Seminary, Jaffna. In July 1992 he was appointed Bishop of Mannar and was ordained a bishop in October 1992. Joseph has been a vocal critic of the

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital of Sri Jayawardenepura Kott ...

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

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

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 from British Ceylon Pontifical Urban University alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Mannar Sri Lankan Tamil activists Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan Roman Catholic bishops {{SriLanka-bio-stub