Fifty years in Priesthood, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith
Tuesday, 08 July 2025 - 7:22 pm
Sri Lanka’s second Cardinal after Cardinal Thomas Cooray, Cardinal Malcolm was ordained as a priest on June 29, 1975, by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Square in Rome
- Ordained in 1975, he didn’t seek comfort or prestige. Instead, upon his retu to Sri Lanka, His Eminence became an assistant parish priest in Pamunugama in 1978, later serving as a parish priest in Payagala and Kalutara
Cardinal is a position that is not merely a title or role but a calling. At the last conclave in 2025, we witnessed how millions hang on cardinals of the Catholic Church and how their influence stretches beyond borders, ideologies and generations. 132 voices of the world of Cardinals carrying a moral responsibility that eclipses that of presidents, Kings, tech moguls, and influencers combined first prayed and lea ed mode trends of the world together behind closed doors.
A job this immense, this iconic, this globally transformative, expects nothing in retu for themselves for their country or their friends but goes beyond regions, countries, provinces and villages and selects a new leader with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who was not known but worked for the people in his country and as a missionary lea ed, linguist and qualified to the core and who is really suitable for the job. This shows the real meaning of Catholicism implies universality. After intense hours of prayer, discussion and disce ment, a decision is made that would send shockwaves across the globe. That alone defies everything that we come to associate with power, success and influence. Therefore, a cardinal is a position that is not merely a title or role but a calling. A sacred mission that flips the mode definition of leadership on its head. Today, we witness yet another chapter in our own history of the Sri Lankan church that is also truly groundbreaking, as our own, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith is celebrating his 50th priestly ordination, the second Sri Lankan ever chosen to be a cardinal from Sri Lanka. It all began in Sri Lanka, a country built on ambition, diversity and dreams.
Young Malcolm Ranjith’s life seemed ordinary, an altar boy, a child of good family values, moulded by faith, humility and hard work. No one, neither his family, his teachers, nor His Eminence Malcolm himself, could have imagined that this boy would someday ascend to this spiritual office in the church. His jou ey was never about power. It was never driven by status or the thirst for control.
From his earliest days, His Eminence Malcolm understood that the truest form of leadership comes through service. Ordained in 1975, he didn’t seek comfort or prestige. Instead, upon his retu to Sri Lanka, His Eminence became an assistant parish priest in Pamunugama in 1978, later serving as a parish priest in Payagala and Kalutara. He walked the dusty roads. He sat with the poor. He listened to the unheard. He didn’t just serve the people. He became one of them. For decades he lived their reality embraced their struggles and offered compassion in a world often devoid of it. He built not just churches and distributed houses but hope. He gave not just sermons but love. That experience didn’t just shape his theology. It defined his humanity. A man forged not in palaces but in people. It’s not about nationalism, it’s about humanity. It’s about a man who understands both the power of faith and the pain of poverty, and real justice to the victims. A man who chose mission over money, compassion over comfort, purpose over prestige. Let’s pause here and really try to grasp the magnitude of this role. Imagine the recent situation of our country, especially after the Easter Sunday attack. His Eminence’s every word, every gesture, dissected, celebrated, debated, and echoed across churches, headlines, home and hearts. You hold no army.
You sign no laws. You command no economy. And yet your voice can calm storms, send powerful politicians home, bring nations together and awaken hope in the darkest places and here’s the part that most people can’t wrap their heads around. Despite the scale of responsibility, His Eminence Malcolm doesn’t draw a salary, no pay cheques, no bonuses; instead, everything he Needs, from housing, meals and transport, are provided by the church, not as luxury, not as privilege, but as tools for uninterrupted service. The archbishop house in Colombo though beautiful is not a mansion of indulgence. His meals are simple, and his transportation is with security, but it is not extravagant. This is not about wealth, this is about freedom the kind of freedom that comes when you heart is unattached to possessions and fully devoted to a mission greater than yourself. He chooses this life. He embraces the centuries-old tradition that true riches are not found in bank accounts but in souls saved in kindness shown in bridges built. Think about the CEOs of the world.
Think about politicians with lifelong pensions, lobbyists and power plays. Then look at His. He lives with no salary, and yet he has nothing one can buy. The ability to change lives with a whisper to move nations with a prayer. To guide generations with quiet integrity. That is really power. That is a real influence. And His Eminence Malcolm’s background makes this even more remarkable. As the secretary of the congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, he understands the institution from the inside out. He’s not a bureaucrat. He is a shepherd. He knows the needs of the flock because he has lived among them. He doesn’t speak from theory; he speaks from experience. When he preaches peace and justice, it’s not just doctrine, it’s personal. When he talks of evangelisation. It’s not just a mission.
It’s memory. It may seem like a small detail, but it speaks volumes. He bridges the old with the new. He’s not here to reinvent faith. He is here to renew its fire. In a world to apart by division, greed and individualism. This man chooses simplicity. In a time where success is measured by what you gain, he reminds us that the highest success lies in what you give. He walks into a role that demands sacrifice and justice for his people, not reward. A role where your time is no longer your own. Where your words must carry healing. Where your presence must bring peace, and justice, and he embraces it with humility. So, the next time someone defines leadership by titles or ea ings remember His Eminence. Remember that greatness isn’t always loud. That the most powerful man in the world might be the one who owns nothing yet offers everything. Remember the true legacy isn’t built on wealth but on the lives, you touch and the faith you inspire. In a noisy world chasing fame, he offers silence. In a broken world seeking healing, he offers hope, in a selfish world driven by gain, he offers love. This is not just a career. It’s a commitment, a sacrifice, a divine mission, and it’s a story Sri Lanka will never forget.
