Pope is visiting SL in 2015 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christianity coming to Sri Lanka
Posted on November 4th, 2014
Lorenzo
Pope is visiting SL only because the president and the defence secretary invited him to visit SL.
Obviously they are aware SL is a Buddhist country.
1505 April.
The Portuguese under Don Lorenzo de Almeida fist visit Ceylon and are permitted to trade.” But NO Christian missionaries.
1515 Lopez Suaar Alverenga arrives in Ceylon with a fleet of 19 ships and after some ineffectual opposition from the Sinhalese erects a fort in Colombo.” First Catholic priests came in this fleet.
1536 Death of Joao Monteiro the first Catholic Bishop of Ceylon at Colombo.”
– Parts between ” from genealogysrilanka
So Pope is visiting SL in 2015 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christianity coming to SL.
My guess is further confirmed by this.
”Christians and Spices”: Portuguese Missionaries in Ceylon, 1515-1658 By C.R. Boxer”
Although Portuguese landed in SL in 1505, Christian priests landed only in 1515.
Pope visits SL to commemorate the 500th year of continuing Christianity in SL.
November 4th, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Visiting of a religious leader helped by the government demonstrate the freedom enjoyed by its people. It is a good thing.
It is up to the Buddhist to protest upon his arrival, since numerous killings , suppression , forced conversions they inflicted on Buddhist. Even if people did not protest there is no problem, because that proves how superior Buddhism compared to Jihadists religions.
But the problem arises when our “true Buddhist leader” goes there to invite him. That is absolutely unwarranted and it proves his Buddhist FAITH ( Saddha).
Furthermore, he did it secretly, in a hurry and was angry to dismiss Nonis because of his anger.
We need a more upright leader.
November 4th, 2014 at 3:05 pm
We may see stamps , coins or notes released to commemorate Pore’s arrival ( = 500 years celebration of inflicting war crimes on Sinhala Buddhist).
November 4th, 2014 at 4:28 pm
Thank you Lankaweb.
No one can fool us when knowledge is FREE.
Christianity came to SL in 1515.
Portuguese came to SL in 1505 but were only doing TRADE. Those drunkards had NO missionaries with them. But they FOOLED the king and ESTYABLISHED a safe place for missionaries to LAND and do their work SAFELY.
The 19 ships carrying missionaries came only in 1515. IF my internet searches are right VIOLENCE started after this! From 1505 to 1515 there was NO war.
We need answers from the government. Are they celebrating the 500th anniversary of the advent of Christianity to SL? YES OR NO? If yes say yes. No need to fool the people.
Did GOSL celebrate the 2500th anniversary of Lord Buddha’s arrival in 1972? And SL constitution says Buddhism takes supreme place.
What a country! To win elections, politicians would sell ANYTHING!
November 4th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Whole nation will be grateful to Lorenzo !
Whole nation will be grateful to Lankaweb !
I knew what this “great leader” is doing for some time now. As a goodwill gesture to lankaweb I will keep on writing comments even if they are release or not released by the moderator.
Even if we join Tamil Nadu we must do it in a straightforward upright manner. Cheating f the public must come to an end.
November 4th, 2014 at 5:48 pm
How he is going to commemorate it, by installing some Portuguese saints here to replace the porcelain – saint there ?
Who is doing all these and what for ? All for power and to make the Family happy.
Stupid Buddhists will vote him.
Buddhists should not listen even to BBS and should go the other way.
November 4th, 2014 at 8:54 pm
Dear Lorenzo,
It was so nice to see a main article bearing your name.
We need more of them please.
Thank you,
Mario Perera
Kadawata
November 4th, 2014 at 9:40 pm
I’m NOT against cannonization of Father Joseph Vaz. ALL SLs should be proud of a Sinhala and Tamil speaking saint. The FIRST in the world. He will be cannonized on Thaipongal day 2015 grand mass by the pope.
The problem is govt. FOOLING the people.
November 5th, 2014 at 1:25 am
Dear Mario Perera,
Thank you sir.
I didn’t write it as a letter. This is from a comment yesterday.
November 5th, 2014 at 7:47 am
Society of St Pius X district of Asia says that the first Portuguese ship arrived in Colombo was on 1505. It also says that on board, there was a Franciscan Friar who celebrated the first Holy Mass in Sri Lanka. And, http://www.christian.gov.lk/DatesofImportance.html confirms this.
http://xoomer.virgilio.it/alperera/portu.html says that “in 1493 Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) have assigned to the Portuguese the evangelization of countries in the East.” Accordingly, King Manuel I of Portugal (1495-1521) sent the first missionaries (8 Franciscans and 8 secular priests) to India in 1500 by the fleet under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral. Five years later, on 15 November 1505. a Portuguese fleet commanded by Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy in India, Francisco de Almeida, having been driven by a storm to the shores of Lanka, landed in Colombo. I cannot believe Franciscan monks would wait another 10 years to come to Lanka to do their job.
November 5th, 2014 at 11:52 pm
I too did a bit of research on the .subject and here is what I found.
Source: Catholic Church in Sri Lanka – A History in Outline – The Portuguese Period by W_L_A_Don Peter
ADVENT OF THE PORTUGUESE
In 1493 Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) assigned to the Portuguese the evangelization of countries in the East. Under the Padroado arrangement of joint Church-State action in this regard, King Manuel I of Portugal (1495-1521) sent the first missionaries (8 Franciscans and 8 secular priests) to India in 1500 by the fleet under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral.
Five years later, on 15 November 1505. a Portuguese fleet commanded by Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy in India, Francisco de Almeida, having been driven by a storm to the shores of Lanka, landed in Colombo.
With the leave of the king of Kotte, Dharma Parãkramabãhu IX (1489-1513), Alimeida erected a feitoria or trade station in Colombo. There he built also a small chapel where the chaplain of the fleet, Friar Vicente, a Franciscan, celebrated Mass, the first Latin Mass on Sri Lankan soil. The chapel was dedicated to St Lawrence, Roman deacon and martyr, Lourenço’s name-saint. It was thus that St Lawrence became the chief patron of the city of Colombo.
Leaving a few soldiers behind. Lourenço de Almeida returned to India and informed his father of the events connected with the ‘discovery’ of Sri Lanka. The latter informed King Manuel of Portugal who by letter dated 25 September 1507 intimated to the Pope, Julius II (1503-1513), that the Portuguese had arrived in the island.
ARRIVAL OF MISSIONARIES
In 1518, with the permission of the king of Kotte. Vijavabãhu VI (1513-1521), the Portuguese built a fort in Colombo which brought more Portuguese into the country. They seem to have had also a priest to attend to their spiritual needs. In any case, by about 1530 there were in Colombo two Franciscans and a parish priest (vigario) by the name of João Vaz Monteiro. His engraved tombstone was discovered in Colombo in 1836.
Mario Perera
Kadawata
November 6th, 2014 at 1:25 pm
Nandawathie has appeared after a brief break for his friend’s first attempt on an article which looks like a list of comments. May be because Mangala is contemplating on joining the government. Waiting for Piyawathie to comment.
November 6th, 2014 at 1:26 pm
Good start Lawrence.
November 6th, 2014 at 2:09 pm
Callistus,
Can you contribute with some argument on the subject without commenting on others ?
Are you a friend of Mervyn Ayya ?
November 6th, 2014 at 3:29 pm
Leela,
“I cannot believe Franciscan monks would wait another 10 years to come to Lanka to do their job.”
The priest on board the ship was for the crew. He was not a missionary.
“Lourenço de Almeida returned to India and informed his father of the events connected with the ‘discovery’ of Sri Lanka. The latter informed King Manuel of Portugal who by letter dated 25 September 1507 intimated to the Pope, Julius II (1503-1513), that the Portuguese had arrived in the island.”
The next group came in 1515.
“1515 Lopez Suaar Alverenga arrives in Ceylon with a fleet of 19 ships and after some ineffectual opposition from the Sinhalese erects a fort in Colombo.”
This most likely had missionaries.
November 6th, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Leela,
Mario’s facts DISAPPROVE my comment on EXACT date. But take a broader view.
The Pope came to SL last in 1995. Then in 2015. If it takes another 20 years, then it will be in 2035.
Which year is closest to the ANNIVERSARY of advent of Christianity in SL? 2015.
Celebrating 500 years in 1995 would have been premature. In 2035, it is too late.
So it is 2015.
This is the BEST chance to get His Holiness to APOLOGIZE for the VIOLENT and BRIBERY INDUCED means used to convert people. He is a PRACTICAL man. He would consider it.
Voluntary conversions are OK. Close to HALF the world population BELIEVES in JESUS either as the Son of God or a PROPHET. So it was a matter of time SL had its share of believers.
November 6th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
“Voluntary conversions are OK. ” – all conversions appear to be voluntary. There will always be arguments on what is voluntary and what is not.
Planned activity and soliciting for conversions shall be made illegal.
“HALF the world population BELIEVES in JESUS either as the Son of God or a PROPHET. So it was a matter of time SL had its share of believers.”
– True. Buddha recognised that majority of the world will not be intelligent people. In afct he initially decided not to teach. Majority of the world will never be Buddhist.
“Even if a fool lived with a wise man all his life, he would still not recognize the truth, like a wooden spoon cannot recognize the flavour of the soup” (Dhammapada 64).
“The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, Religion: A Dialogue and Other Essays