With the first Portuguese contacts with Sri Lanka in the early sixteenth century, Catholic missionaries came in their quest to convert local populations. 

 

The loss of the island to the Dutch in the mid-seventeenth century began a black period for Sinhalese Catholics, hard-hounded and left to their fate. At the end of the seventeenth century, Father José Vaz, from the Oratory Congregation of Saint Philip Néri, made his way to Sri Lanka and took on the mission of spiritually assisting the Catholic communities of the island, founding countless missions and churches, supported by others oratorian Goan.

 

In view of the imminent danger of the disappearance of a unique and relevant patrimony for Portuguese culture in the world, it is imperative to know the churches that still resist, before they disappear. In this sense, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation supported the research project "Oratorians in Ceylon: Survey of oratorian churches with Portuguese influence in Sri Lanka", under which the book "REMAINS OF DARK DAYS: The architectural heritage of Oratorian missionary churches in Sri Lanka" will be launch, and a conference will be held with its authors, Sagara Jayasinghe, Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos, and Hélder Carita.