Henri Joulain

Henri Joulain OMI was a French Catholic missionary and bishop who served as Bishop of Jaffna, Ceylon from 1893 to 1919.

Biography

Joulain was born on 24 September 1852 in Poitiers, France. He received his education and training at the Montmorillon and Poitiers seminaries. He joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and was ordained priest at Poitiers in 1875. He was sent as a missionary to Ceylon and arrived in Colombo in 1880. He often ministered from the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu in Mannar District, a popular pilgrimage site where the spring water and earth were believed to have the power of healing. On 20 July 1893, he was appointed Bishop of Jaffna, Ceylon, and on 24 Aug 1893 was consecrated by Archbishop André-Théophile Mélizan. In 1906, he visited Rome where he was received by Pope Pius X.
After having been in poor health for some time, Joulain died at Jaffna on 8 February 1919, aged 66.