Thomas Cooray

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Thomas Cardinal Cooray
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Colombo (emeritus)|

Thomas Benjamin Cardinal Cooray, OMI (December 28, 1901—October 29, 1988) was a Sri Lankan prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Colombo from 1947 to 1976, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.

Biography

Thomas Cooray was born to a poor but religious family in Negombo, and attended St. Aloysius Seminary in Borella, and St. Joseph's College and University College in Colombo before going to Rome, where he studied at the Angelicum, obtaining a doctorate in philosophy "summa cum laude". After entering the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 23, 1929. Finishing his Roman studies in 1931, he then did pastoral work in Colombo until 1945, whilst teaching at St. Joseph's College and serving as a university chaplain.

On December 14, 1945, Cooray was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Colombo and Titular Archbishop of "Preslavus" by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on March 7, 1946 from Archbishop Leo Kierkels, with Bishops Edmund Peiris, OMI, and Bernardo Regno, OSB, serving as co-consecrators. Cooray succeeded the late Jean-Marie Masson, OMI, as Archbishop of Colombo on July 26, 1947. During his tenure as Archbishop, he "favored a respectful dialogue with the Buddhists and with other Christians". [New York Times. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1D71538F932A35752C1A96E948260 Thomas B. Cooray, Cardinal, 86] November 1, 1988] From 1962 to 1965, he attended the Second Vatican Council, at which he supported the "Coetus Internationalis Patrum". [SSPXAsia. [http://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/2001/July-Sep/Some_Historical_Landmarks.htm Some Historical Landmarks in the History of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka] ]

Pope Paul VI created him Cardinal Priest of "Ss. Nereo ed Achilleo" in the consistory of February 22, 1965. Cooray, the first Sri Lankan member of the College of Cardinals, resigned as Colombo's archbishop on September 2, 1976, after a period of twenty-nine years. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II respectively, and the only Sri Lankan up to date who has participated in the election of a Pope. Cooray died around 6:45 p.m. [St. Lucia's Cathedral. [http://www.stluciascathedral.org/faith.htm Our Faith...] ] in Tewatta Ragama, at age 86. He is buried in the crypt of the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, whose completion he oversaw, in Tewatta.

Trivia

*Cooray once served as rector of the Oblate Seminary in Sri Lanka.
*Whenever passing his native town, he would visit his mother's grave.
*He was also the first native Archbishop of Colombo.

References

External links

* [http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/features/20011226well_known_cardinal.htm Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-c.htm#Cooray Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]
* [http://catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcooray.html Catholic-Hierarchy]