Background
Lakdasa De Mel was born on 24 March 1902 in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, to a prominent Anglican family. He was the son of Sir Henry de Mel, former Member of the Legislative Council and Elsie Jayawickrame.
Lakdasa De Mel was born on 24 March 1902 in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, to a prominent Anglican family. He was the son of Sir Henry de Mel, former Member of the Legislative Council and Elsie Jayawickrame.
De Mel was educated at the Royal College Colombo and went on to study at Keble College at the University of Oxford, gaining an Master of Arts. De Mel was ordained to a short curacy at Street John the Divine, Kennington before returning to Sri Lanka, where he was appointed as the parish priest at Street Michael and All Angels Church, Polwatte.
Foreign 10 years he was the authority of Missionary of South Sri Lanka’s Baddegama Parish. From 1940 he served as the priest at Saint Paul"s Church, Kandy. He said his first Mass in Sinhala and sought to integrate local music styles into the service.
De Mel was consecrated as Assistant Bishop of Colombo on 8 November 1945.
In January 1950 the Church of Ceylon resolved to create a new diocese, the Diocese of Kurunegala. The diocese was formally inaugurated on 2 February 1950, on the Feast of the Presentation, with George Hubback, the then Metropolitan of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, appointing De Mel as the first Bishop of Kurunegala.
The formation of this new Diocese was marked by the induction, installation and enthronement of De Mel as the founding Bishop, at Trinity College Chapel, Kandy. He was enthroned on 21 August 1962, at Saint Paul"s Cathedral, Calcutta.
lieutenant was a post that he held until his retirement in 1970.
In March 1976 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and he died on 23 October 1976, his ashes were interred in the Cathedral of Christ the King.
He, along with other members of the De Mel family were largely responsible for the funding of the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the King.