Shantha Francis

Gregory Shantha Kumar Francis (B.Th., PGDip.P&CC), was an Anglican Bishop of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka.[1][2]

Gregory Shantha Kumar Francis was born in 1955 in the village of Polgahawela, Sri Lanka.[3] He is an upcountry Tamil, and fluent in Sinhala, English and Tamil.[3]

Francis was appointed as deacon in 1978,[3] receiving his Bachelor of Theology from the University of Serampore the same year. In 1980 he obtained a postgraduate diploma in pastoral and clinical counselling from Nawa Jeewana Institute of Psychology, Colombo and was ordained as a priest in the Church of Ceylon.[3] He was the chaplain at Hillwood College, Kandy (1993–2000), Trinity College, Kandy (2001–2004). Francis also obtained a higher diploma in comprehensive drug abuse prevention and counselling from the Anti Narcotic Association of Sri Lanka.

On 7 November 2010 Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed Francis as the fifth Bishop of Kurunegala in the Church of Ceylon, succeeding retired Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe.[4]

In 2012, Francis was nominated by the International Counter Narcotic Association to be a consultant on rehabilitation and counselling.

On 6 January 2015 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, announced that Francis had resigned as Bishop of Kurunegala.[5] In a statement by Francis he advised that he had been threatened by Tamil diaspora groups opposing his stand for a unitary state and the sovereignty of the country.[6][7][8]

Francis is married to Priyadharshin and has two sons, Prabath and Pramith.