Arrival of the first group of Franciscan Missionaries to the island

Six hundred 'martyrs of Mannar' put to death for the Faith; first visit of St. Francis Xavier to Ceylon (also in 1545 and probably in 1548)

Goa made a Archbishopric; Ceylon placed under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Cochin. India

Arrival of the first Jesuit Missionaries

Arrival of the first Dominicans

Arrival of the first Augustinians

Dutch take Ceylon from the Portuguese

Secret arrival of Blessed Father Joseph Vaz in Mannar

Father Vaz dies at Kandy on January 16

Arrival of British to the island

British proclaim freedom of worship for all faiths

Father Orazio Bettacchini, an Italian Oratorian, arrives in Ceylon – the first European Missionary since Dutch occupation

Father Bettacchini appointed Coadjutor to the Vicar Apostolic

Ceylon divided into two Vicariates Apostolic with Headquarters at Colombo and Jaffna

Oblates of Mary Immaculate begin their work in Jaffna

The Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux come to cylon, the first Sisters to arrive in Ceylon

The God Shepherd Sisters arrive in Colombo and begin their work in Schools

The Denominational system of schools sanctioned by the Government through the efforts of Father Christopher Bonjean O.M.I

Death of Father Matthes Caetano, the last of Father Vaz' Oratorian Fathers of St. Philip Neri

Kandy erected as a third Vicariate

Establishment of a Hierarchy in Ceylon; the three Vicariates Apostolic become Dioceses

Establishment of the Papal Seminary at Kandy. Galle and Tincomalee become Dioceses

The Bishops of Ceylon's five Dioceses (Archbishop Andre Melizan, O.M.I.) and Bishops Clemens Pagnani osb, Charles Lavigne sj, H. Joulain O. M. I., J.Van Reeth sj, and A. Coudert O.M.I. (coadjutor of Colombo) form a Conference of Bishops for Ceylon and have their first meeting on 3.10.1899, at which the Bishops agreed on the Rules (19) for the conduct of the Meetings of the Conference

Most Rev. Bishop of Galle, J. Van Reeth sj initiate the First Sri Lankan Religious Congregation "Sisters of the Holy Angels". Rev. Sister Mary Aloysious was the First member

The Diocese of Chilaw erected; Ceylon now divided into six Dioceses

First Sinhalese ordained as Bishop of Chilaw (Most Rev. Edmund Peiris, O.M.I.)

First Sinhalese named as Archbishop of Colombo (Thomas Benjamin Cooray, O.M.I.)

British Parliament passed the Ceylon Independence Act in November

June 11, By Apostolic Brief Pope Pius XII establishes Mary Immaculate known as Our Lady of Lanka as "Principal Patroness of the whole Island of Ceylon"

February 4, Cornerstone laid for the Votive Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka – to fulfill the vow made by Archbishop Cooray's predecessor, Mgr. Jean Marie Masson, on 26 May 1940, that if Ceylon is preserved from ' the horrors of World War II, in her honour at Tewatta, Ragama

Aquinas University College opens in the premises of St. Joseph's College

Papal Seminary of Kandy transferred to India, Poona. National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka established in Ampitiya to serve Ceylon's six dioceses

Denominational Schools taken over by the Government – Legislative Act of Parliament

Archbishop Thomas Cooray O.M.I. nominated to the College of CARDINALS by Pope Paul VI

National Pastoral Convention and Synod in Ceylon, which continues till 1969

Holy Father Pope Paul VI visits Ceylon and celebrates Mass at the Katunayake Air Port premises

Creation of the Diocese of Badulla with Bishop Leo Nanayakkara osb as its first Bishop (Province of Uva separated from the Diocese of Kandy)

Creation of the Prefecture Apostolic of Anuradhapura

Creation of the Diocese of MANNAR

Creation of the Diocese of ANURADHAPURA

Creation of the Diocese of KURUNEGALA

October 29 Death of Cardinal Cooray, O. M. I

Solemn Beatification of Father Joshep Vaz, by Pope John Paul II, on 21st of January