Office

Parish Priest

In the Catholic Church, a parish priest (also known as a pastor) is a priest appointed by the bishop to represent him to the local parish, which is a collection of neighborhoods in one small region of a county within a given district. A given city may support a number of parishes, depending on the Catholic population. The Parish Priest is helped by an assistant priest or a deacon, religious sister, or lay parishioners — all known as pastoral associates. At Katukurunda the Parish Priest has no pastoral associates as mentioned above and carries out his duties without such assistance.

The parish council and its associate committees, which are made up of lay parishioners for the most part, advice and counsel the priest without having administrative or executive authority above him. The Katukurunda parish has no such organized Parish Council to assist the Parish Priest for the past six years and operates only with a team of Novena Leaders and a few helpers. It is a dysfunctional structure where parishioners do not volunteer to organize themselves collectively for the common good of the parish due to extreme anti-clericalism, secularism, sectarianism, superstition, financial-economic concerns, long standing community divisions and disharmony prevalent in the village. This Parish Council is a top priority that must be achieved at any cost if the parish is to move forward.

The Parish Priest celebrates daily Mass, hears confessions every day, gives marriage counseling, provides prenuptial counseling, gives spiritual direction, anoints and visits shut-ins and the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, teaches catechism (the doctrines of Catholicism) to children and adults, baptizes, witnesses marriages, performs funerals and burials, attends numerous parish and diocesan meetings, prays privately every day, does spiritual and theological reading, and finds time to relax now and then. And once a year, he’s expected to make a five-day retreat in addition to doing his regular spiritual direction and daily prayer. Yeah, a very busy job to do without helpers in the parish of Katukurunda!

The parish church is where the priest does his job and where the parishioners attend Mass on weekdays and weekends. The parish church is also where most Catholics get baptized, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, are confirmed, get married, and are buried from. Only a few parishes still have a parochial school connected to them, and even fewer have a convent of nuns who staff the school. Economics, demographics, and declining numbers of religious sisters and brothers have resulted in the consolidation and closing of many parish-based institutions. Katukurunda Parish has no convent of Religious Sisters attached to it. The parish-based nursery school had to be closed down in the year 2021 with the onset of the Corona – 19 pandemic due to the lack of volunteers, resources, financial and material provided by the parish community. Parishioners are invited to come and help the parish to organize its lay leadership structure and ministries in collaboration with the Parish Priest.

You may contact the Parish Priest for the following needs:

To receive:

• Blessings
• Sacraments
• Counselling
• Spiritual Direction
• Catechism

To conduct:

• Funerals
• Marriages
• Prayer Services
• Educational Programs
• Retreats and Recollections
• Enrichment Programs
• Community Projects
• Apostolates
• Pilgrimages

To obtain:

• Certificates of Sacraments
• Certificates of Character
• Documents for School Admission
• Letters of Recommendation
• Authentication of Documents
• Family Books

PDF Document  Family Book Form

Bookings and Reservations

• Parish Hall

The Parish has a sizable Hall with a stage, erected for the purpose of Sunday Daham Pasala which will be held on Sundays from 8:30 am till 12:00 noon. This hall is vacant throughout the weekdays except on Sundays and special Parish event days. It is available for events, programs and seminars of religious, educational and cultural value. This parish hall cum stage can be reserved for events on prior consultation with the Parish Priest.

• Parish Churches

The parish of Katukurunda has two Churches, viz. St. Mary’s Church and St. Joseph Vaz’s Church. Both these Churches are available for the celebration of special occasions of religious importance of those outside the parish, such as Anniversary, Memorial, Requiem and Matrimonial Masses. The Churches can be reserved for outside occasions on the days where there are no regular Parish events. For the reservation of these Churches for special religious occasions the Parish Priest can be consulted.

Meeting Hours of the Parish Priest

• Direct Meetings:

The Parish Priest is available on Wednesday which is the day especially set apart for office work. But you may meet him at any time during the week according to his availability by fixing up an appointment over the phone. Phone numbers can be obtained from the Parish Visitors’ Book kept near the Parish Office. Due to the present crisis of the pandemic, it is encouraged that the parishioners first call up and make an inquiry before visiting the parish without prior notice. The Parish Priest can be met always after Mass, but due to the lack of a pastoral team of helpers the Parish Priest has got to attend to the many needs and demands of the Parish Community by himself, thus it is advisable to contact him over the cell phone prior to your visits to avoid any inconveniences. You may also drop a message via email by visiting the page ‘Contact Us’ in this website.

Name of the Parish Priest:

Land Phone – 011 2657456

Mobile Phone –

Office Hours

• Weekdays:

From 9:00 am to 1:00 pm / 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm (please avoid coming half an hour before or during the celebration of Holy Mass) If you have come without an appointment or prior notice kindly be charitable enough to wait until the Priest is able to attend to your need. The Parish of Katukurunda has no receptionists or secretaries to attend to you as soon as you arrive. Ring the Bell and be seated until the Parish Priest arrives. Your patience is most appreciated.

• Weekends:

From 8:00 am to 1:00 pm / 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm (please avoid coming half an hour before or during the celebration of Holy Mass) If you want to meet the Parish Priest without a prior appointment, if there are people already meeting the Priest when you arrive, you will have to wait in line. After weekend Masses usually there are many who meet the Parish Priest hence it is advisable to meet him only to fixup an appointment for another day, but if you are patient enough the Priest is always willing to give time to you amidst the busy schedule no matter how long the queue might be.

• Indirect Meetings:

Through Novena, Zonal and SCC Leaders parishioners can contact the Parish Priest. These leaders can represent the Parish Priest in matters pertaining to the needs of the parishioners if the parishioners fail to get in touch with the Parish Priest. The contact details of the Novena, Zonal or SCC leaders are as follows:

Novena Leaders	Zonal Leaders	Families	Small Christian Community Leaders
1 – Sheran Fonseka 0715312575	1 Jeevani – 0761833987	22
	2 Dinusha – 0769990774	33
	3 Malani – 0778141837	29
	4 Rasika – 0771234293	29
	5 Shanithi – 0112659732	49
	6 Charlotte – 0716662180	43
2 – Royal Vijitha 0773769973	7 Merlene – 0713053741	104
	8 Priyanthi – 0719358216	78
	9	41
	10	34
3 – Ramesh 0773170631	11 Astrid – 0775463509	65
4 – Pemlath Fernando 0718963749	12 Marian – 0771613084	71
	13 Calista – 0781232560	76
5 – Malani 011265001	14 Ishara – 0766615004	50
	15 Priyanka – 0767286867	53
6 – Nilantha Mendis 0771066767	16 Yohani – 0714763705	53
	17 Rohini – 0717430001	46
7 – Neil Fernando 0777255512	18 Roshini – 0762777644	57
	19 Sunitha – 0702521166	56
	20 Nimali – 0771099421	51
8 – Bernard Silva 0772539991	21 Ajith – 0724798256	47
	22 Rita – 0765949209	40
	23	31
9 – Shrimal 0718698868	24	61
Total Novenas 09	Zones 24	1219

• Parish Organizational Structure

The geographical area of the parish is divided into nine novenas and 24 zones based on the number of families that totals up to 1219 on paper. Currently it is further being organized into Basic Christian Communities (BCCs) which will exceed 50 communities minimum. Rev. Sr. Phelomena (0779093757) and Rev. Sr. Shirani (0779054108) of the Sisters of the Cross assisted the parish during the year 2020 to organize and create these BCCs, but had to stop abruptly due to the pandemic.

• Basic Christian Communities – ( )
• Zones – (24)
• Novenas – (9)
• Proposed Parish Council Structure

The Parish Council structure will mainly consist of the following members:

1. Parish Priest
2. Secretory
3. Treasurer
4. Novena Leaders
5. Zonal Leaders
6. BCC Leaders
7. Committee Representatives
8. Representatives of Parish Associations

PDF Document BCC organizational body

PDF Document Parish Council Form

• The Administrative Committees of the Parish Council:

Every pastoral area of the parish will be covered by these main committees that will comprise of the most important members who will be helping the Parish Priest in the organization of the Parish activities

There are eight such important parish council committees:

1. Committee for Liturgy and Spiritual activities
2. Committee for Evangelization, Education and Catechism
3. Committee for Family, Youth, Children and Lay Apostolic work
4. Committee for Environment, Human Development, Justice, Peace and acts of Mercy
5. Committee for Social Communication and Media
6. Committee for Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue
7. Committee for Building, Property and Finances
8. Committee for Basic Christian Communities and Novena Zonal activities

PDF Document Nomination Paper for suitable members