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| Friday, 26 March 2004 |
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Fr. W L A Don Peter - the great Educationist reaches milestone by W.T.A. Leslie Fernando
On March 25, 2004 Very Rev. Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter, the well known Catholic priest, scholar, historian, journalist and patriot celebrated 63 years in the Vineyard of Christ. He is the foremost Catholic writer and educationist living in Sri Lanka today. Fr. Welgama Lekam Appuhamilage Don Peter was born on September 25, 1916 at Kondegammulla, Katana. After a brilliant academic career at Maris Stella College, Negombo, the cradle of many a Catholic priest he entered St. Aloysius' Seminary in 1935. He later had his education at St. Joseph's College, Colombo and priestly formation at St. Bernard's Seminary. He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1941 by Dr. J.M. Masson, the then Archbishop of Colombo. From 1941 to 1946, the served as an assistant parish priest at St. Mary's Church, Grade Street - Negombo and then at St. Thomas' Church, Kotte. In 1946, Fr. Don Peter was appointed to the staff of St. Joseph's College, Colombo. He also functioned as the Prefect of Boarders, Prefect of Discipline and Prefect of Studies at St. Joseph's. Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter who studied Pali on his own at the seminary began to lean towards orental studies. While leading a busy life at St. Joseph's, he spent his leisure hours studying oriental languages, history and culture. The Church was not slow to recognise his talents. In 1950, Archbishop Thomas Cooray sent him abroad for further studies. Fr. Don Peter studied Missiology for one year at the Urbanian University taking up his residence at the College of St. Peter, the Apostle in Rome. In 1951, Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter proceeded to England and joined the School of Oriental and African studies at the University of London. He presented the thesis, "A Comparative Study of Buddhism and Christianity in Ceylon Education" for his PhD at the London University. In his scholarly articles like "St. Francis and Buddha", "Religious Life, Buddhist and Christian" and in his research work, "Buddhist and Benedictine Monastic Christian Education" Fr. Don Peter brings forth the spirituality of two religions, austere discipline of Catholic orders and their similarity to the Vinaya rules of the Buddhist Sangha. It was as an educationist that Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter shined most. On his return to the Island, he was appointed the Director of St. Aloysius Seminary. He served there with great acceptance and introduced new educational methods and cultural features. He presented the drama "Gurubavila" written by him on Blessed Josep Vaz enacted by students. He also built the double storied building with additional rooms and the science lab with the aid from Rome. In 1961, Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter was appointed the Rector of St. Joseph's College, Colombo - the leading Catholic school in Sri Lanka. He was the first Old Josephian, the first Sinhalese and the first Diocesan priest to hold the post. It was soon after the Schools Take Over and Fr. Don Peter had to face hard times. However Fr. Don Peter steered St. Joseph's as a non-fee levying school without resorting to any donations for admissions. He also gave oriental studies a special place at St. Joseph's College and brought it to the mainstream of national life. In 1967, Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter was appointed Domestic Prelate to the Papal Throne with the title Right Reverend Monsignor by Pope Paul VI, in recognition of his services to Catholic education. In 1971, Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter was appointed Rector of Aquinas College of Higher Studies, the premier Catholic educational institute in Sri Lanka. When Fr. Don Peter assumed duties at Aquinas, the discipline there was at such a low ebb. On one occasion there was a strike by students demanding to share the common room with girls! In 1972 Fr. Don Peter closed down the entire science faculty for the sake of order and discipline. He expanded the scope of Aquinas and introduced new courses in English, agriculture and journalism to suit the needs of time. On July 12, 1975 Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter was appointed the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Colombo. He was assigned the special duties of parish life and ministry, educational apostolate and Diocesan apostolate for communication media. In 1976, Thomas Cardinal Cooray retired and Fr. Don Peter was tipped to succeed him as the Archbishop of Colombo. However it did not happen and things worked otherwise. The post of Archbishop remained vacant for nearly an year and the end Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando was appointed on March 1977. Fr. Don Peter now took residence at "Bethany" in Bolawalana, Negombo to have a period of rest. He spent the time on his literary pursuits and it was here that he produced one of his major research works "Education in Sri Lanka under the Portuguese". In 1978 in deference to a request made by the Archbishop of Colombo Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter accepted the post of rector, Aquinas College for another period. In the second term from 1978 to 1989, he succeeded in raising the standard of Aquinas to degree awarding university level. In fact there was a move in 1980s to award university status to Aquinas, but later it had to be dropped as a matter of policy. He expanded the curriculum of Aquinas by introducing new courses, diploma in journalism, agriculture and computer technology. Fr. Don Peter extended the buildings of Aquinas as well. In 1979, he constructed a new block with seven classroom. In 1987, he set up a large auditorium and the old hall was converted to classrooms. The new auditorium was declared open on September 02, 1986 by the Archbishop of Colombo. It was named "Don Peter Auditorium" on the appeal of the staff that it be so named in appreciation of Fr. Don Peter's services to Aquinas in particular and to Catholic education in general. Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter as a man of God always projects a spiritual outlook in religion. His every endeavour as a scholar, educationist, historian and administrator is in harmony with his priesthood. He is a true representative of Christ and a good shepherd who could guide and lead the laity. Ad Multos Annos. (The writer is a former High Court Judge) |
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