Joseph Vaz
Oratorian priest and missionary in Sri Lanka
Feast: 16 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 17 September 2014 — Decree of the Dicastery (decree list, 2014)
Who they were
Joseph Vaz was born on 21 April 1651 at Benaulim in Portuguese Goa, India, into a family of strong faith, and was ordained in 1676. He founded the Oratory of St Philip Neri at Goa.
Learning of the plight of Ceylon's Catholics, he went there as a missionary, walking hard paths from field to field to strengthen the scattered and hidden Catholics in the faith and preach the Gospel. He died on 16 January 1711 after months of suffering, venerated as the Apostle of Ceylon.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A priest of Goa who kept the faith alive for the hidden Catholics of Ceylon.
Connected on this site
- Philip Neri Saint“He founded the Oratory of St Philip Neri at Goa.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Giuseppe Vaz
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q1708131 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Joseph Vaz (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.