Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Sumith Dassanayake, formally presented his letters of credence to Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on 21 May 2026.
Dassanayake serves concurrently as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, and holds his accreditation to the Holy See with residence maintained in that city.
Pope Leo XIV, addressing the occasion, called for a return to diplomacy rooted in dialogue and consensus-building rather than coercion. “In a time when peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion, there is an urgent need for a return to a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus on all levels: bilateral, regional, and multilateral,” the Pope said, describing ambassadors as a “vital bridge of trust and cooperation” between nations and the Holy See.
Pope Leo XIV — the first American-born pope, elected in May 2025 following the death of Pope Francis — has placed multilateral diplomacy and peacebuilding at the centre of his early pontificate. Sri Lanka and the Holy See maintain reciprocal representation; in April, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake received the credentials of six new foreign envoys to Colombo, including the Vatican’s representative. Ada Derana reported the credentials ceremony on 27 May, six days after it took place.
