SRI LANKA, 2003, the centenary of its founding of the Congregation
of the Holy Angels, Scott 1442
After the diocese of Galle in Sri Lanka was created in 1893 by Pope Leo XIII, Fr. Joseph van Reeth, SJ, at that time the rector of the novitiate at Tronchiennes in Belgium, was appointed its first bishop, and the diocese, a particularly difficult one because Christians were such a minority there, was given to the care of the Belgian Jesuits. In 1903 Van Reeth founded the Sisters of the Holy Angels. It was the first congregation for Sri Lankan women, a diocesan congregation originally, but now of pontifical status. The building on the right, the first convent of the sisters, was built by Jesuit Brother Polydor Verbrugge. More