Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith has
officially opened the cause for the beatification and canonization of
Cardinal Thomas Coorey, during a Eucharistic celebration hosted
yesterday in the National Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatta
(Archdiocese of Colombo).
Cardinal-designate Ranjith celebrated the function with the
Papal Nuncio Joseph Spiteri, Archbishops Emeritus Nicholas Marcus and
Oswald Gomis, Fr. Clement Waidayasekara and Fr. Nicholas Senanayake.
Nearly 200 nuns and priests of the archdiocese attended the mass.
All
the relatives of Mgr. Cooray were present, along with large crowds of
faithful - some two thousand people - from the Archdiocese
of Colombo.
Mass was celebrated in three languages: Sinhala, Tamil and
English. During the homily Archbishop Owald Gomis, who worked closely
with Cardinal Cooray in the past, said that "today is a day to be
written in gold in the history of Sri Lanka."
He recalled the simple and
exceptional holiness, the deep faith and courage of Card. Cooray.
Card. Coorey, who was born in 1901 in Periyamulla (Negombo),
was ordained priest in Rome in 1929 in the Congregation of the Oblates
of Mary Immaculate.
In 1947 he was appointed archbishop of the
Archdiocese of Colombo.
"To serve, not to be served" was his motto: In
1950 he founded the minor seminary, focusing his commitment on the
missionary formation of young seminarians. In addition, under his
leadership the Church in Sri Lanka found ways and means to bring
religious education to schools.
In 1940, the beginning of World War II, Archbishop Jean Marie
Masson made a vow to build a shrine in Tewatta in honor of Our Lady, if
the country was spared the ravages of war.
Card. Coorey kept this vow
and began to build the National Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka.
At the end of his homily, Mgr. Gomis said: "Today we gathered
to thank the Lord for the life and commitment committed of Cardinal
Thomas Cooray. And we pray God to bestow the
necessary blessings for his
beatification and canonization”.
Thomas Cooray was appointed cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1965.
President of the Bishops Conference in Sri Lanka for 30 years, he
retired from office in 1976.
The Cardinal passed away in 1988, and his
remains are buried in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, in the
basilica built by him.
Card. Cooray’s is the first Sinhalese for whom a cause for beatification and canonization has been opened.
SIC: AN/INT'L