In 2010, St Patrick’s Jaffna celebrated its 160th year. Below is a brief summary of its origins:



In 1834, after nearly 300 years when Ceylon was part of the Diocese of Cochin (India), His Holiness the Pope Gregory XVI established Ceylon as a separate Apostolic Vicariate. About 1839 when St Mary’s Catholic Church was being built, the Catholics of Jaffna petitioned the Holy See to send a few European priests. This resulted in a small band of Italian priests, of whom Fr. Bettachini was the first to arrive in 1843.