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Dr. Malcolm Ranjith is the second Sri Lankan to be elevated to the post of a cardinal. while Dr Thomas Cooray was the first cardinal appointed from Sri lanka. The President secretariat said in a statement that President Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated to Dr. Malcolm Ranjith as soon as the appointment was announced. Cardinal Malolm Ranjith has held a number of important positions within the Catholic Church.He has served as auxiliary bishop of Colombo and secretary General of the Bishops conference of Sri Lanka. Prior to being appointed as Archbishop of Colombo he served at the Vatican.

Cardinals are considered key advisers to the pope and they take part in electing a new Pope. The new cardinals will be formally appointed at a conference of cardinals known as a consistory to be held in Vatican City on November 20-21.

 

The Holy Father announced the names of twenty-four prelates who will be created cardinals in a consistory due to be held on 20 November, eve of the Solemnity of Christ the King. The consistory will be the third of his pontificate."Cardinals", said the Pope, "have the task of helping Peter's Successor carry out his mission as permanent and visible source and foundation of the Church's unity of faith and communion".Twenty of the new cardinals, being under the age of eighty, will be electors. Their names are:

• - Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
• - His Beatitude Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt.
• - Archbishop Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum".
• - Archbishop Francesco Monterisi, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.
• - Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, penitentiary major of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
• - Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
• - Archbishop Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
• - Archbishop Paolo Sardi, vice chamberlain of Holy Roman Church.
• - Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.
• - Archbishop Velasio De Paolis C.S., president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
• - Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
• - Archbishop Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia.
• - Archbishop Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, emeritus Quito, Ecuador.
• - Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• - Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo, Italy.
• - Archbishop Donald William Wuerl of Washington, U.S.A.
• - Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Brazil.
• - Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw, Poland.
• - Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• - Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, Germany.

Having pronounced the names of the new cardinal electors, the Pope then indicated that he had also decided to elevate to the dignity of cardinal "two prelates and two priests", all over the age of eighty and hence non-electors, for their "generosity and dedication in the service of the Church." Their names are:

- Archbishop Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens, military ordinary emeritus of Spain.

- Bishop Elio Sgreccia, former president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

- Msgr. Walter Brandmuller, former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.

- Msgr. Domenico Bartolucci, former director of the Pontifical Choir.

 

Date	Age	Event	Title
15 Nov 1947	62.86	Born	Polgahawela, Sri Lanka
29 Jun 1975	27.6	Ordained Priest	Priest of Colombo, Sri Lanka
17 Jun 1991	43.6	Appointed	Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka
17 Jun 1991	43.6	Appointed	Titular Bishop of Cabarsussi
31 Aug 1991	43.8	Ordained Bishop	Titular Bishop of Cabarsussi
2 Nov 1995	48.0	Appointed	Bishop of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka
1 Oct 2001	53.9	Resigned	Bishop of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka
1 Oct 2001	53.9	Appointed	Official of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
29 Apr 2004	56.5	Appointed	Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia
29 Apr 2004	56.5	Appointed	Apostolic Nuncio to Timor-Leste
29 Apr 2004	56.5	Appointed	Titular Archbishop of Umbriatico
10 Dec 2005	58.1	Appointed	Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
16 Jun 2009	61.6	Appointed	Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka
5 Aug 2009	61.7	Installed	Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka
20 Nov 2010	63.0	Elevated to Cardinal