No election in Ceylon

By
George Conger
-
1606
Dhiloraj Canagasabey.jpg
Outgoing bishop Dhiloraj Canagasabey

An electoral synod for the Church of Ceylon’s Diocese of Colombo has failed to elect a bishop to succeed the Rt. Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, who earlier this year reached retirement age of 65.

Meeting at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Savior in Colombo on 15 August 2020, the electoral synod was presented with three candidates: the Rev. Dushyantha Rodrigo, Headmaster of St. Thomas’ Prep; the Very Rev. Perry Brohier,  Archdeacon of Colombo; and the Rev. Marc Billimoria,  warden of St. Thomas’ Mount.

Under the church’s constitution candidates must win a two-thirds majority in both the House of Clergy and House of Laity.  If a candidate does not poll above 20% in the first round, he is eliminated from contention in the second round. When there are two candidates left in contention, the two thirds threshold falls to 60 percent.

After the first round of voting on 14 Aug 2020, Billimoria fell short of the twenty percent threshold and was removed from the ballot. In the second round the next morning, Rodrigo reached the two thirds threshold amongst the laity, winning 67 per cent of the votes cast, but fell short amongst the clergy winning only 54 percent.

The Archdeacon of Jaffna, the Ven. Sam Ponniah, who presided over the election, declared a failed election. Under the church’s constitution the choice of a new bishop falls to the metropolitan of the Church of Ceylon, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. 65 seems young to require a Bishop to retire. Does the Church of Ceylon not appreciate the value of wisdom that can come with age? From what I understand, Canagasabey was a decent Bishop. Its weird Welby gets to sneak his hand into Sri Lanka via his title metropolitan of Sri Lanka when Sri Lanka has two bishops positions of its own. It is not a country that needs someone as underwhelming as he is, especially in light of the Easter Bombings, continued violent persecution of Christians across South Asia, and after after Sri Lanka’s recent election.

  2. Although it is continued to be known as the Church of Ceylon (leaving room for a united Church of Sri Lanka in the future) referring to the country as Ceylon, the colonial name which was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972, will cause inconvenience to not only Anglicans but to all Christians.

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