Thomas Cardinal Cooray, Sri Lankan archbishop. Named Assistant Pontifical Throne, Holy Father Pope Pius XII, Rome, 1954. Pres, Roman Catholic Bishops Conference, Sri Lanka; planner National Basilica/Sanctuary Our Lady Lanka, 1948—1975; member Sacred Congregations Propaganda Fide & Oriental Churches, 1965—1970.
Background
Thomas Benjamin Cooray was born to a poor but religious family in Negombo, and attended Saint Aloysius Seminary in Borella, and Saint Joseph"s College and University College in Colombo before going to Rome, where he studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), obtaining a doctorate in philosophy summa cum laude.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, University London, 1924. Degree in Philosophy, Saint Bernard"s Seminary, Colombo, 1925-1926. Doctor of Philosophy, Academy Saint Thomas, Rome, 1928.
Doctor of Philosophy in Division, Angelicum University, Rome, 1931.
Career
His cause of canonization commenced in 2010 and he has been bestowed with the title of Servant of God. Early life and priesthood
Finishing his Roman studies in 1931, he then did pastoral work in Colombo until 1945, whilst teaching at Saint Joseph"s College and serving as a university chaplain. He also became rector of the Oblate seminary in Sri Lanka.
Episcopate
On December 14, 1945, Cooray was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Colombo and Titular Archbishop of Preslavus by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on March 7, 1946 from Archbishop Leo Kierkels, with Bishops Edmund Peiris, OMI, and Bernardo Regno, OSB, serving as co-consecrators.
Cooray succeeded the late Jean-Marie Masson, OMI, as Archbishop of Colombo on July 26, 1947, becoming the first local-born head of the see. From 1962 to 1965, he attended the Second Vatican Council, at which he supported the Coetus Internationalis Patrum.
Cardinalate and death
Pope Paul VI created him Cardinal Priest of Santi Nereo e Achilleo in the consistory of February 22, 1965. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II respectively, and the first Sri Lankan to participate in the election of a Pope.
Whenever he came to his native town, he would visit his mother"s grave.
Cooray died at age 86. He is buried in the crypt of the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, whose completion he oversaw. Cause of beatification
In the first step towards sainthood, Pope Benedict XVI declared him to be a Servant of God on 22 November 2010 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints gave its approval to begin the canonization cause.
Membership
Pres, Roman Catholic Bishops Conference, Sri Lanka. Planner National Basilica/Sanctuary Our Lady Lanka, 1948—1975. Member Sacred Congregations Propaganda Fide & Oriental Churches, 1965—1970.