The Anglican Bishop of Colombo is the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Diocese of Colombo, a diocese in the Church of Ceylon which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Diocese of Colombo was founded in 1845, as the diocese of the Church of England in Ceylon.
| Bishops of Colombo | ||||
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| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
| 1845 | 1861 | James Chapman | first Bishop of Colombo installed in the presiding seat | |
| 1862 | 1871 | Piers Claughton | first Bishop of St Helena (1859 – 61) and upon his return to England was appointed Archdeacon of London (1871 – 84) | |
| 1872 | 1875 | Hugh Jermyn | translated to Bishop of Brechin (1875 – 1903) and Primus of Scotland (1886 – 1901) | |
| 1876 | 1902 | Reginald Copleston | translated to Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India (1902 – 13) | |
| 1903 | 1924 | Ernest Copleston | ||
| 1924 | 1938 | Mark Carpenter-Garnier | ||
| 1938 | 1947 | Cecil Horsley | appointed as Bishop of Gibraltar (1947–53) | |
| 1948 | 1964 | Rollo Graham Campbell | ||
| 1964 | 1971 | Harold de Soysa | first Ceylonese Bishop of Colombo | |
| 1971 | 1977 | Cyril Abeynaike | ||
| 1978 | 1987 | Swithin Fernando | ||
| 1987 | 1992 | Jabez Gnanapragasam | ||
| 1992 | 2001 | Kenneth Fernando | ||
| 2001 | 2010 | Duleep De Chickera | ||
| 2011 | 2020 | Dhiloraj Canagasabey | ||
| 2020 | present | Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo | Consecrated and installed as the 16th Bishop of Colombo on 28th October, 2020 | |
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British Ceylon 1815 – 1948 | |||||||||||
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The Church of North India (CNI), the dominant united Protestant Church in northern India, was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the Protestant churches working in northern India; it is thus a province of the worldwide Anglican Communion and member of the World Methodist Council, as well as the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The merger, which had been in discussions since 1929, came eventually between the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (Anglican), the United Church of Northern India,, the Baptist Churches of Northern India, the Church of the Brethren in India, which withdrew in 2006, the Methodist Church and the Disciples of Christ denominations.
St Luke's Church is situated in the Borella district of Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The church plays an important role within the history of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) on the island and is prominent within the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka.
The extra-provincial Anglican churches are a group of small, semi-independent church entities within the Anglican Communion. Unlike the larger member churches of the Communion, extra-provincial churches are not part of an ecclesiastical province and are subject to the metropolitical oversight of the Archbishop of Canterbury or theorically of another bishop. As of 2018 there are five extra-provincial churches. In almost every case, these churches consist of just one diocese, although the Church of Ceylon is an exception, having two.
Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. Christianity was introduced to the island in first century, probably in AD 72. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced via India because of its close geographical and commercial ties. According to Christian traditions, the apostle Thomas preached the Gospel in Sri Lanka. Records suggest that St. Thomas Christians and Nestorian Christians lived in Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura cross is one of the archaeological claims that suggest Christianity in Sri Lanka before the Portuguese. Roman Catholicism was introduced by the Portuguese in 1505. There were conversions by Dutch persons in the 17th century, which resulted in a percentage of church members in excess of 10%.
The Church of Ceylon is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at Kurunegala.
James Chapman (1799–1879) was the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in Ceylon, serving from 1845 to 1861.
Charles Harold Wilfred de Soysa MA (1907-1971) was the first Ceylonese Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Kenneth Michael James Fernando is a former Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Most Rev. Lakdasa Jacob De Mel (1902–1976), MA was the first Bishop of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka and the last Metropolitan Archbishop of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon.
St. Paul's Church is situated in the Milagiriya district of Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest churches in Sri Lanka as now part of the Anglican Church of Ceylon.
Cyril Leander Abeynaike was a former Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Swithin Winston Fernando was an Anglican Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Jabez Jebasir Gnanapragasam was the 12th Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy, read History at University of Ceylon and Theology at Bishop's College, Calcutta. He was married to Grace from 1953 until his death in November 1997.
The Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (CIBC) was the autonomous ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in British India.
All Saints' Church is an Anglican church located within the Galle fort in Galle, Sri Lanka and is located on Church Road.
The Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour is located in Cinnamon Gardens a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the primary Anglican cathedral, affiliated to the Church of Ceylon.
The Diocese of Kurunegala is a diocese of the Church of Ceylon. The See was erected in 1950 from that of Diocese of Colombo, as one of two dioceses of the Church of England in Ceylon. In September 2017 Keerthisiri Fernando, the Archdeacon of Nuwara Eliya of the Diocese of Colombo, was elected as the new Bishop of Kurunegala.
The Most Rev. Andrew Oliver Kumarage, , was the third Bishop of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka.
Gregory Shantha Kumar Francis, was an Anglican Bishop of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka.
The Diocese of Colombo is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The diocesan bishop's seat is Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour. The current bishop of Colombo is Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo.
