Our History

It was the noble vision of His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Cooray, to set up a Social and Economic Centre to empower marginalized communities to access their fundamental rights.

This task was later entrusted to Fr. Joe Fernando in 1956. Fr. Joe’s decision to implement the bishops mandate was largely influenced by his experience and dynamism where he ventured out as a young parish priest to influence the fisherfolk to seek integral development in the early 1940s. As a result, Fr. Joe started a Co-operative Fishermen’s Association at Sea Street.

Having being granted the privilege to attend the University of St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada and having earned a degree in Social Development, Fr. Joe was convinced that a genuine people-oriented and people-sustained movement was the most effective method to inspire individuals to actively strive for growth.

Later in 1956, Fr. James Morris of Catholic Relief Services proposed to establish a relief service in Sri Lanka to facilitate progressive actions. Simultaneously, Fr. Lucian Schmidt, then Vicar General of Colombo, suggested expanding the Sea Street experience to the whole island. These recommendations were presented to His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Cooray, who was in Rome at the time, to consider setting up an institution for social development in Sri Lanka.

As a result, SEDEC was founded in 1968. Established by Fr. Joe, the organization’s operational tasks were inspired by Populorum Progressio.

With 58 years of dedicated service to the nation, Caritas Sri Lanka – SEDEC has developed into becoming one of the largest and most regarded humanitarian organizations in Sri Lanka. Its work centred around Integral Human Development has spread out to thirteen Diocesan Centres across the twelve Catholic Dioceses of Sri Lanka. Caritas Sri Lanka – SEDEC has consistently led humanitarian emergency responses during periods of adverse conditions in the country. Especially during the Tsunami catastrophe in December 2004. SEDEC also implement initiatives that promote inter-ethnic dialogue, mainly concerning the prolonged internal conflict between the North and the East.