Holy Cross Church, Gampaha

Holy Cross Church is a Roman Catholic church located in Gampaha, Sri Lanka. It is part of the Archdiocese of Colombo. It is located in town area that everyone can access easily. Most of citizens well known it as the Rock Church because the outer side of the church is made by the Gneiss (hard rocks). The Holy Cross Church is also known as Gal Palliya (Rock Church) in Sinhala language () is composed from 2 words – "Gal", which means "Rock" and "Palliya", which means "Church".

History

According to the book of The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon by the historian Rev.Fr.Fernao De Queyroz() (1617-1688), there was a church named Holy Cross near the heart of Gampaha town during the Portuguese ruling period in Sri Lanka (1505-1658). That was a sector of the famous Kandyan era and King Rajasingha II (1629-1687) reigned as the third king of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka.

Rev.Fr. Fernao De Queyroz was a Portuguese Christian clergy born at Amarante in Portugal in the Province of Entre Douro e Minho, in 1617. He arrived in Goa, India in 1635. It appears that he began to write the book by about in 1671 and completed in 1686. The written work consisted of six books, but Rev.Fr. S.G.Perera, who translated the book from Portuguese to English, compiled the books into three volumes. The English translation was first published by the Ceylon Government Press, in 1930.

After the period of Portuguese, the “Dutch” who have had control over the parts of Sri Lanka] and against the Catholic and other traditional religions, ruins the church and extorted the land by Dutch Protestants.

Gossip says this forage land formerly known in 1962 as the “Kasadoruge Watta () (State of Kasadoruge)” held by a Ceylon Christian clergy lived in England and it is situated near the Church road that link with the Colombo-Gampaha main road.

The Church

In 1906, Italian clergy Rev.Fr.C.Kardano (), who was the parish priest of Kirimatiyagara church, purchased two lands in Gampaha town in different times for construct this holy place of worship. One is brought from so called Mr.Manipeny and located near the Oruthota road that builds an English Training Institute for Teachers in temporary later. That land is beyond the town limits and not satisfied with Fr.Kardano at the moment. Other land is position in between Colombo-Gampaha main road and George Raja Mawatha (King George Lane) [Later: Bauddhaloka Mawatha()] and Fr.Kardano decides this land is also not suitable for a House of God too. Unfortunately those days Reverent Father got Parish Transfer and he leave from the parish.

Contact

Holy Cross Church, Gampaha. 033 - 2222186

Parish priests

Count From To Priest
01 1910 1922 Rev.Fr. Gregory Silva
02 1922 1934 Rev.Fr. P.J.Dominic O.M.I.
03 1930 1931 Rev.Fr. Alexis Seru O.M.I.
04 1932 Feb 1932 Sep Rev.Fr. J.M.Kerbul O.M.I.
05 1932 1933 Rev.Fr. J.Santhiyago
06 1933 1934 Rev.Fr. D.B.Jakoline
07 1934 1935 Rev.Fr. Joseph Alosius O.M.I.
08 1935 1937 Rev.Fr. A.Godvin Fernando
09 1937 Sep 1937 Dec Rev.Fr. Peter Fernando
10 1938 1940 Rev.Fr. A.Marjes O.M.I.
11 1940 1941 Rev.Fr. F.Desigo O.M.I.
12 1941 1943 Rev.Fr. L.M.V.Thomas O.M.I.
13 1943 1947 Rev.Fr. Alias Weerakkodi O.M.I.
14 1947 1949 Rev.Fr. Julius Wijesooriya O.M.I.
15 1949 1955 Rev.Fr. Phillip C. Dissanayake O.M.I.
16 1955 1961 Rev.Fr. J.L.Mikay O.M.I.
17 1961 1965 Rev.Fr. Kingsly Perera O.M.I.
18 1965 1966 Rev.Fr. Emil Perera O.M.I.
19 1966 1967 Rev.Fr. Reginold De Silva O.M.I.
20 1967 1971 Rev.Fr. J.Edwin Fernando
21 1971 Mar 1971 Jul Rev.Fr. Stanley Wedasinghe
22 1971 1975 Rev.Fr. Don Tuder Pawulienes O.M.I.
23 1975 1976 Rev.Fr. Patrick M. Fernando
24 1976 1979 Rev.Fr. Don Tuder Pawulienes O.M.I.
25 1979 1980 Rev.Fr. D.A.Dassanayake O.M.I.
26 1980 1987 Rev.Fr. Luwigi Hettiarachchi O.M.I.
27 1987 Mar 1987 Sep Rev.Fr. Ernest Premasiri O.M.I.
28 1987 Sep 1988 Aug Rev.Fr. Sarath Silva O.M.I.
29 1988 Aug ..... Rev.Fr. P.Stanis Lawos O.M.I.
28 2008 Sep To Present Rev.Fr.

Namesakes

There are also other Holy cross churches in the Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka:

Extra

Apostolic Blessing certificate from Pope John Paul 2 for 75th Anniversary of Holy Cross Church, Gampaha, Sri Lanka in 1991 for 75th Anniversary of Holy Cross Church, Gampaha, Sri Lanka in 1991]]

References

External links

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