Right Reverend Dr. Joseph Kingsley Swampillai (born 9 December 1936) is a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern ...

priest and former

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Bishop of Trincomalee The Diocese of Trincomalee ( la, Dioecesis Trincomaliensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese for eastern Sri Lanka. The current bishop is Noel Emmanuel Christian Noel Emmanuel (born 25 December 1960) is a Sri Lankan Tamil priest and the current Roma ...

Early life and family

Swampillai was born on 9 December 1936 in

Kayts Kayts ( ta, ஊர்காவற்துறை, translit=Ūrkāvaṟtuṟai'','' ), is one of the important villages in Velanai Island which is a small island off the coast of the Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. There are number of othe ...

on the island of Velanaitivu in northern

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He was educated at

St. Patrick's College, Jaffna , motto_translation = By faith and labour , location = Mathews Road, Gurunagar , city = Jaffna , province = Northern Province , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates ...

Career

Swampillai was ordained as a priest in December 1961.Even as priest he was chosen to act as a Secretary to Apostolic Nunciature for a period. In addition to his duties as a general secretary and Chancellor to the former Bishop of Jaffna, he was also the General Manager of Catholic Schools in the Diocses of Jaffna from 1975 to 1983. He was holding the office of the National Director of the Pontificial Mission Aid societies for more than Six years until he was elected as a Bishop in April 1983. In March 1983 he became Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa. He became Bishop of Trincomalee after the creation of the Diocese of Batticaloa in July 2012. Swampillai resigned on 3 June 2015. He was briefly recalled to apostolic service in January 2016 to act as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Mannar when the position of Bishop of Mannar fell vacant after

Rayappu Joseph Bishop Rayappu Joseph ( ta, இராயப்பு யோசப்; 16 April 1940 – 1 April 2021) was a Sri Lanka Tamil prelate and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar. Early life and family Joseph was born on 16 April 1940 on the is ...

's retirement; he held this appointment until December 2017.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swampillai, Kingsley 1936 births 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sri Lanka Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna Roman Catholic bishops of Trincomalee Roman Catholic bishops of Trincomalee-Batticaloa Living people People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil priests