From News Letter | June | Page 06- 07

Very Rev. Msgr.Raymond Wickramasinghe

 By the Grace of God

Seventh Bishop
Of the Diocese of Galle

Name in Full:      Raymond Kingsley WICKRAMASINGHE
Date of Birth:      31th August 1962


Parents
   Father: (Late) Frederick Thomas Goldi Wickramasinghe
   Mother: Margaret Therese Thilakaratne

Secular Studies
Primary:        Grades 1-6 at Pilapitiya Primary school, Kelaniya.
Grade  7-11 at Mayurapadha Maha - Vidyalaya, Mawanella.
Secondary: Advanced Level:  Piyatissa Maha Vidyalaya,Kalegana, Galle.
Priestly Formation
Minor Seminary: St. Francis Xavier's Seminary, Kalegana, Galle -from 1977 – 1981.
Pre-Philosophate: “Daham Sevana” , Kalutara ,from 1982-1983.
Major Seminary: National Seminary, Ampitiya, Kandy, from 1983-1989.
Ordination to the Priesthood  
For the diocese of Galle, by the Most Rev. Dr. W. Don Sylvester, the late Bishop of Galle,
on 05th August 1989
Ecclesiastical Studies
B.TH (Rome), S.T.L. (Rome), S.T.D.  (Specialized in Moral Theology at the Alphonsian Academy,Rome – May 2001 – Magna Cum Laude).
Pastoral Assignments
1. 1st Sept. 1989 – 30th August 1990: Assistant Parish Priest at Ratnapura.
2. 1st Sept. 1990 – 17th April 1991: Rector of the Minor Seminary, Galle.
3. 1st May 1991 – 5th January 1992: Assistant Parish Priest at Balangoda.
4. 10th January 1992-18th October 1992: Secretary to the Bishop of Galle (Bishop W. Don Sylvester) and Assistant Parish Priest of St. Mary's Cathedral, Galle.
5. 19th October 1992 – 15th April 1994: Parish Priest of St. Anthony's Church, Rakwana & the Administrator of the Vianney House, Bulutota.
6. 20th April 1994 – 20th June 1996: Secretary to the Bishop of Galle.
7. 25th June 1996 – 25th June 1998: in  - Collegio San Paolo, Rome, for the Licentiate in Moral Theology at the Alphonsian Academy.
8. 1st November 1998 – 30th June 1999: Secretary to the Bishop of Galle.

9. 1st July 1999 – 25th September 2001: in - Collegio San Paolo, Rome for the Doctorate in Moral Theology at the Alphonsian Academy. Defended the Thesis on 5th May 2001.

10. 28th October 2001 – 15th January 2003: Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier's Church, Kalegana, Galle.
11. 21st October 2001 – 15th March 2002: Director of Caritas-Sed Galle,the Diocesan Centre for  Social and Economic Development .
12. 12th November 2002  The Diocesan Director for Migrants, Health Care Workers, Tourists and Prisons.
13. 16th January 2003 – 2005: Rector, St. Francis Xavier's Seminary, Kalegana, Galle.
14. 26th January 2006 – 11th May 2008:  Parish Priest, St. Mary's Cathedral, Galle Cum  the Diocesan Director for Family Apostolate.
15. 11th May 2008 – to date:  Formator at the National Seminary, Kandy.
16. 27th May 2011 -  Named as the Bishop  of the Diocese of Galle.
          
Other Responsibilities Held:   From 1994 – 2008

o Served as a Councillor and a Consultor of the Diocese.
o Member of the Diocesan Steering Committee and the Finance       Committee.
o Member of the Papal Visit Committee in 1995.
o Represented Sri Lanka as one of the five member delegation of Young Clergy at a Conference organized by the FABC in Philippines in 1994.
o Served as one of the Secretaries at the Synod of Bishops for Asia, in Rome, in 1998.
o Represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Human Rights Commission held in Hong Kong in 2006.
o Represented Sri Lanka in 2007, for BILA-I on family in Pataya, Thailand organized by the FABC.

 Heavenly Father, you sent Jesus to shepherd your people and the Holy Spirit to make your people one.
 Send your Holy Spirit to anoint our  Bishop-Elect Mgr. Raymond Wickramasinghe so that he may continue the work of renewal in the Church and unite our parishes, priests and people in love, truth and wisdom.
Give him a true shepherd’s heart like that of Jesus, that he may give strength to the weak, heal the broken-hearted, console the lonely, bring back the wandering and be a power against the evil of our day.

Amen.