A 17th century Indian missionary will become Sri Lanka's first saint after the Pope approved his canonisation, the Catholic church said here today.
"The Holy Father Pope Francis declared Blessed Joseph Vaz as a Saint on 17th September," the Archdiocese of Colombo said in a statement.
Pope Francis is expected to canonise Joseph Vaz during his visit to Sri Lanka due in January next year.
Vaz was born in 1651, in Goa but chose to work in the neighbouring Sri Lanka and is credited for reviving Catholic faith in the country.
He came to Sri Lanka in the 1680s and worked amid persecution of Catholics by Dutch colonial rulers, who were Calvinists.
He is also credited to have founded a missionary Oratory-- priests who would be available for frontier missionary work.
His canonisation is seen as bending of the Vatican's rules by the Pope to bypass the usual requirement that a second miracle be confirmed.
Usually, the Vatican must approve one miracle for beatification, and a second one for canonisation. However, the Pope bent the rule for Vaz.
"Since Blessed Joseph Vaz was born, educated and ordained a priest in India and opted to be a missionary in Sri Lanka, both the countries have special significance at his being raised to the honours of the altar," the church added.
