Gregory Shantha Kumar Francis ( B.Th., PGDip.P&CC), was an Anglican

Bishop of Kurunegala The Diocese of Kurunegala is a diocese of the Church of Ceylon (which is part of the Anglican Communion). The See was erected in 1950 from that of the Diocese of Colombo, as one of two dioceses of the Church of England in Ceylon. On 17 Decemb ...

, Sri Lanka. Gregory Shantha Kumar Francis was born in 1955 in the village of

Polgahawela Polgahawela is a town located in north western Sri Lanka. It is most notable for being a major railway junction. Polgahawela is situated in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, and is located approximately north-east from the capital city ...

, Sri Lanka. He is an upcountry

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, and fluent in Sinhala, English and

. Francis was appointed as

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in 1978, receiving his

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

from the University of Serampore the same year. In 1980 he obtained a postgraduate diploma in pastoral and clinical counselling from Nawa Jeewana Institute of Psychology, Colombo and was ordained as a priest in the

Church of Ceylon The Church of Ceylon ( si, ලංකා සභාව) 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 appointme ...

. He was the chaplain at

Hillwood College Hillwood College is an independent private girls' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka founded by British Anglican missionaries of the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in 1890. The school is situated in the Kandy Lake round (Victoria Drive). Th ...

, Kandy (1993–2000),

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

(2001–2004). Francis also obtained a higher diploma in comprehensive drug abuse prevention and counselling from the Anti Narcotic Association of Sri Lanka. On 7 November 2010

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, appointed Francis as the fifth

in the

, succeeding retired Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe. In 2012, Francis was nominated by the International Counter Narcotic Association to be a consultant on rehabilitation and counselling. On 6 January 2015 the

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for jus ...

, announced that Francis had resigned as Bishop of Kurunegala. In a statement by Francis he advised that he had been threatened by

Tamil diaspora The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil people, Tamil Emigration, immigrants who emigrated from their native lands (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and Sri Lanka) to other parts of the world. They are found pri ...

groups opposing his stand for a unitary state and the sovereignty of the country. Francis is married to Priyadharshin and has two sons, Prabath and Pramith.

References

External links

The Church of Ceylon (Anglican Communion)

Anglican Church of Ceylon News

20th-century Anglican bishops in Asia Sri Lankan Anglican bishops Sri Lankan educational theorists Sri Lankan chaplains Anglican chaplains Sri Lankan Tamil priests Anglican bishops of Kurunegala 1955 births Living people {{Anglican-bishop-stub