By Bishop James Conley
As the days of summer wind down and we begin another school year, it is my hope and prayer that your summer was a time of rest and relaxation with family and friends, and that you can look back on the summer of 2025 and enjoy some good memories.
The highlight of my summer came in mid-June when I had a unique and privileged opportunity to make a pastoral visit the island of Sri Lanka at the invitation of a longtime friend of the Diocese of Lincoln, His Eminence Malcom Cardinal Ranjith, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka. I traveled with my priest-secretary and master of ceremonies, Father Christopher Eckrich.
The friendship between Cardinal Ranjith and the Diocese of Lincoln, goes back to 2008 when His Eminence traveled from Rome to Lincoln. At the time, he was the Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Msgr. Thomas Fucinaro, now pastor of the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, was then serving as an official in this Vatican congregation, and Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz invited the cardinal to be the main presenter at a Priest Study Day for the priests of the Lincoln Diocese, speaking on the topic of the sacred liturgy. Ranjith was appointed Archbishop of Colombo in 2009 and made a cardinal that same year. He later made a subsequent visit to Lincoln as a cardinal.
One of the fruits of this friendship was a collaboration between the Archdiocese of Colombo and the Diocese of Lincoln, which resulted in our sponsorship of four seminarians from Sri Lanka. His Eminence has a deep desire for his future priests to experience the wider Church and to bring different perspectives back to Sri Lanka. When I was appointed Bishop of Lincoln in 2012, I learned of this wonderful connection with a country literally on the other side of the globe. I was grateful for the opportunity we were given to support the Catholic Church from a developing country, and to learn from them and their experience of the Catholic Church.
The four seminarians that we sponsored between 2010 and 2015, Asitha Hettiarachchi, Eranga de Silva, Gerald Ferreira and Shanaka Mendis, received their theological formation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., alongside our own Lincoln seminarians. After completing their studies, I had the privilege of ordaining all four as deacons in 2014 and 2015 at our Cathedral. They were subsequently ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Ranjith and are now serving in their home archdiocese of Colombo in various pastoral assignments. They are still fondly referred to as our “Sri Lincolns.” Cardinal Ranjith recently sent us a priest, Father Prageeth Chamara, to serve as parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish in Hastings. Prior to coming to Lincoln last year, Father Chamara had been a successful pastor of one of the largest parishes in Colombo!
When Father Eckrich and I arrived at the airport in Colombo in June, we were met by the four “Sri Lincolns” and taken to the residence of the Cardinal Archbishop, where we were received with warmth and lots of delicious curry! Over the course of the next 10 days, we visited the minor and major seminary, as well as the flagship Catholic high school in Colombo: St. Joseph’s College, where we were entertained with song and native dances by the students.
Editor's Note: See photos of the pastoral visit here.
Cardinal Ranjith had planned our itinerary to the last detail. We visited an elephant orphanage, a tea plantation and a coconut plantation, the national Marian shrine and a coastal fishing village. We climbed the famous Sigiriya rock, saw loads of monkeys and peacocks, and visited several Buddhist shrines, some predating the birth of Christ. Although Sri Lanka is 74% Buddhist and only 4% Catholic (the rest made of Muslims and Hindus), there is immense mutual respect between the Catholics and the Buddhists. The voice of the cardinal carries tremendous weight in the country of Sri Lanka. He is a voice for the voiceless, and a champion of justice for all the people of Sri Lanka.
We observed this most markedly when we visited the Catholic churches that were bombed by radical terrorists on Easter Sunday, 2019. In coordinated attacks in churches and three international hotels, at least 290 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Cardinal Ranjith continues to speak out against this act of religious persecution and hate crime, calling for justice for the victims and their families and demanding that those who perpetrated this evil act be held accountable. To this day, there has not been an accounting for this crime and everywhere we traveled with the cardinal, he had a full military escort, due to the threats on his life. With the recent tragic shooting at the Catholic school in Minnesota, we too pray for justice and an end to these evil attacks on the innocent.
One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the Shrine of St. Anthony and the miraculous statue in Kochchikade on June 12, the Feast of Saint Anthony. We joined a half-million people gathered for a long procession throughout the entire afternoon, culminating in solemn vespers led by His Eminence. There is a profound love for St. Anthony among all the people of Sri Lanka, and this annual celebration is the principal feast for all Catholics in the country – a true highlight in every sense of the word.
It was here, at the Shrine of St. Anthony, where 40 worshipers were murdered by suicide bombers during Easter Sunday Mass in 2019. It was very moving to join His Eminence in praying for the faithfully departed, with the families of the victims who still mourn the loss of their loved ones. But it was also profoundly edifying to see the Church “rise from the ashes” and experience the life and vitality present among the people in a place of such suffering.
Our four American-trained Sri Lankan priests took turns escorting us each day. I was invited to give presentations everywhere we traveled, returning the favor of Cardinal Ranjith who spoke to our priests many years ago. At a clergy study day, I was invited to address the 400+ priests of the archdiocese regarding the Church in the United States, and what I believe are some of the positive initiatives both in the Diocese of Lincoln and in the Church in the United States in general. While we found the Church in Sri Lanka to be small compared to the rest of population, her voice is strong and there is a real vibrancy among the priests and the lay faithful.
I feel our two dioceses have been mutually enriched by the long friendship we have enjoyed with the Archdiocese of Colombo, and it was a particular joy to reconnect and spend time with our beloved “Sri Lincolns.” One of the direct fruits of our visit was the promise by the Cardinal to send us more priests to serve in our parishes in the coming years. We, on our part, have agreed to sponsor two more seminarians beginning next academic year, 2026-2027.
Please join me in thanking God for this friendship, and please keep in your prayers our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka who still suffer from harsh poverty and religious persecution. Keep in your prayers, too, those suffering in our own country, our brothers and sisters in Minneapolis, as they mourn after the Aug. 27 shooting.
The summer of 2025, the “Jubilee” summer, will be remembered for many things. While we are all called to be pilgrims of hope, it will be difficult, in the face of such tragedies, to know how to move forward in hope as Christians. St. Paul, however, reminds us in Scripture (Romans 12:9-21): “Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.”
