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ST BENEDICT’S COLLEGE KOTAHENA CELEBRATES 150 YEARS |
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THE MOTHER
OF ALL CATHOLICS SCHOOLS IN COLOMBO |
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ORIGIN Being the only education Institute available to
Catholics in the South and added to this the fact that St Benedict’s College was
managed by the La Sallians Brothers the leading teaching order in the
Catholic Church, St Benedict’s was able to attract the cream of the Catholic
community and as such has an outstanding and unparalleled record, having
produced some of the finest gentlemen of this country. The pastoral letter from the Archbishop of Colombo, Christopher
Ernest Bonjean on 06th January 1892 had this to say about St Benedict’s “At the head of our vast system of schools stands St
Benedict’s Institute, the leading Catholic College of the archdiocese.
Founded in 1865. St Benedict’s has always maintained its reputation for the
sound education it imparts to its pupils. The good done by the devoted
Brothers of the Christian schools during their long years of service in
Colombo is above all praise. Their former pupils are to be met within every
place and at every profession, and many of them occupy honorable and
lucrative positions under Government or in Private firms. The solid religious
instruction imparted to them in their school days is now to them a preservative against the
deleterious influences to which they are exposed in their dealings with the
World” EQUALITY AND RELIGIOUS
HARMONY
EXPANSION OF CATHOLIC
EDUCATION IN SRI LANKA. The history of Catholic education in Colombo is the
history of St Benedict’s, being the only Institution available to Catholic
students from its inception in 1865. The growth of St Benedict’s was
significant and in the words of Archbishop Bonjean : “ We have been amply rewarded by the growing
prosperity of this Institution, its efficiency has daily increased, and it
counts now 475 pupils, a number never reached before and not equaled by any
other Institution in Ceylon” THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
SECOND CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN COLOMBO. As the demand for education among the Catholic
community grew the need for the teaching of classical languages too became a
necessity , negotiations between the Archdiocese and St Benedict’s for the
inclusion of these subjects were going on. The Christian Brothers of St
Benedicts were firm on the Teaching of only English, the Archdiocese was
desirous of teaching the classical languages, A decision was taken to satisfy
both needs, I once again quote Archbishop Bonjean in his pastoral letter of 6th
January 1892 “We call it a problem, for it is such in reality and
one beset with a host of practical difficulties of no little weight. It is
universally admitted from the beginning that the creation of a separate Institution
on a grand scale was out of the question, and that, for two decisive reasons-
The first was the lack of means and secondly on how to conciliate our new departure
with the existence and future prosperity of this invaluable institution now
under the Christian Brothers. It was felt that whilst both institutions kept
on the distinct lines proper to each, they should coalesce in one and the
same educational establishment under the time honored name of St Benedict’s.
for we were not going to give up the good things we had, in an attempt to get
something better”. The Archbishop further went on to say “ In the contemplated Collegiate section of St
Benedict’s, under the direction of the Fathers Oblates of Mary Immaculate and
with the co-operation of talented native teachers, such literary and
scientific training will be available as may fit the students for competitive
examinations. It were simply premature at this early stage to enter into
minute details of the organization which the harmonious working of both
branches of St Benedict’s Institute thus constituted will necessitate, We
have laid down the broad lines of the plan and this is all for now needed” After this initial development of this branch
spanning a period of four years, the Archbishop with the assistance of the Administration of St Benedict’s
established the second Catholic school in Colombo in 1896 namely St
Joseph’s Colombo 10, with the laying of the foundation by Rev Msgr
Ladislaus Zaleski on 12th December 1894. To strengthen this new
school many Teachers and Students transferred from St Benedict’s, this sacrifice
paid rich dividends as it signaled the beginning of the long road to success
of Catholic Education in Sri Lanka. St Benedict’s continued to support in many ways towards
the formation of all other Catholic institutions in and around Colombo,
Institutions like St Sebastian’s Moratuwa, De Mazenod College Kandana and St
Peter’s College Bambalapitiya in 1922 (whose founder Rev Fr Nicholas Perera
was an eminent Benedictine). These
institutions have since made great strides and produced many great
personalities. ACHIEVEMENTS OF BENEDICTINES It is
impossible in the space of an article such as this to enumerate all the
notable achievements of Benedictines, which significantly include a number of
‘firsts’ in every field. This limited resume however, will be sufficiently
indicative of the vast contribution made by the products of this
institution. Just to impress upon the outstanding contribution to
Sri Lankan society, mention should be
made of some of the eminent Benedictines in their chosen professions namely
Dr Cyril Fernando, the leading physician of his day, Prof Kandiah the first Ceylonese to obtain
the D Sc, Mr. C M Fernando the
country’s first Crown Counsel, Dr A W
Joachim the greatest soil chemist produced by this country who rose to be the
first Ceylonese Director of Agriculture,
Prof P B Fernando the first Professor of Medicine of the University of
Ceylon , Dr Phillip Brito of the
Colombo Medical Faculty , Mr. P Navaratnerajah Queens Counsel, Professors
Mylvaganam, Chapman, Kingsley De Silva
Orthopedic surgeon Dr Rienzie Peiris, Mr. A N S Kulasinghe the
country’s leading Engineer , Mr. George Weeramantri topped the list in the
Cambridge senior examination, respected Public administrators who served
with distinction as Secretaries of various Ministries were Mr. Annesley
Jayewardene, Mr. Ronnie Gunatilleke,
Dr Joe Fernando, Dr Reggie Perera, Dr Athula Kahandaliyanage, Mr. Justin Dias
and Dr Michael Joachim , mention must be made of the Savundranayagam brothers
Tony , Peter and Alexander CCS who were foremost administrators in Government
service. Entrepreneurs of the caliber of Sir Chittampalam Gardiner, A G
Hiniappuhamy, S Selvanathan and in recent times Naushad Mohideen and Errol
Weerasinghe. Brian Van Heer was the recipient of the Queen’s export award in
1994. Not only
in the fields of Science, Law and Commerce but in every sphere have
Benedictines rendered a rich tradition of service to the country. Of the
many Benedictines who have added luster to the Country’s Diplomatic service
is Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala a distinguished diplomat who held the
highest position ever by a Sri Lankan in the United Nations as under
Secretary General, he was also awarded an international peace award for his
contribution to disarmament as Chairman of the United Nations Committee on
Disarmament. Many
Benedictines have served in the armed forces and Police among them are the 12th
Commander of the Sri lanka Army General Cecil Waidyaratne, the 6th
Commander of the Sri lanka Air Force, Air Vice Chief Marshal Dick Perera, The
14th Inspector General of Police Herbert Weerasinghe. Among the
many who laid down their lives in the defense of our Country are Deputy
Inspector General of Police Chandra Perera and SSP Upali Sahabandu the
foremost trainer of the STF. Of
Journalists there were Editors like Quintus Delikan, Felix Gunawardena, Clarence
Fernando and of course the popular E C B Wijesinghe, and in recent times Sports
Journalist Elmo Rodrigopulle and Lasantha Wickremetunga the winner of many
awards for fearless journalism. In the film and music industry St Benedict’s has a
record unparalleled by any school. In the film industry personalities such as
Vijay Kumaranatunga, Ravindra Randeniya and Robin Fernando are household
names and are considered as kings of this industry, in the music industry
Sunil Shantha is considered a legend, in addition some of the greatest names
in popular music such as Jerry Crake, Clem Croner, Denzil & Bosco,
Dharmaratne Brothers, Peter Prins, Spit Fires, Savages, Jet Liners &
Grace to name a few, were all bands that ruled the scene in the 60’s and 70’s.
Among the present generation of Benedictine musicians are the Rebels and the
Tissera brothers Shavindra and Viroshan. CONCLUSION What is
most special is that St Benedict’s College has during its long history been a
quiet and humble Institution that has during the years produced some of the
finest gentlemen of this Country; many have adorned positions of high office
both here and overseas with humility, equality and fairplay. The greatest strength of the Benedictine character
is that they could associate with any person irrespective of their social
background or which school they come from. These outstanding human qualities of humility and
brotherhood have been instilled in them through this institution, surely
keeping in mind the message conveyed in one verse of the College anthem: ”True to our God and true to all
man, The information included in this brief article is by
no means comprehensive and the writer humbly apologizes to all those great
Benedictines who have in the past and even at present hold high office for
non inclusion. SHIRLEY
TISSERA. – JP General
Secretary OBU, St Benedict’s College.
1991/92 President
– International Federation of NGOO - IFNGO 2003/2005 District
Governor Lions International 1991/1992 Member of
the Board of the Global Fund in Geneva 2010 / 2014 Company
Director. |