St. Joseph
Vaz,(21 April 1651 – 16 January 1711) was an Oratorian priest and missionary in Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon.
St. Vaz arrived
in Ceylon during the Dutch occupation, when the
Dutch were imposing Calvinism as the official religion
after taking over from the Portuguese. He travelled throughout the island bringing
the Eucharist and the sacraments to
clandestine groups of Catholics. As a result of his labors, Vaz is known as the
Apostle of Ceylon. On 21 January 1995, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Colombo. He was canonized on 14 January 2015 by Pope Francis in an open-air Mass ceremony at the Galle Face Green in Colombo.
