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by W. T. A. Leslie Fernando

October 20 is the Mission Sunday. On this day Catholics pray specially for the missionaries and the missions all over the world. Contributions solicited on this Sunday are set apart for missionary work.

Christian missionaries throughout the centuries have spread the Gospel - the message of Christ in far distant lands. It was due to the pioneering efforts of the missionaries that Christianity took a firm root in Sri Lanka.

The first group of organised missionaries to land in Sri Lanka were the Franciscans who came to Kotte in 1543. They were followed by the Jesuits in 1602, the Dominicans in 1605 and the Augustinians in 1606. The missionaries during the Portuguese times worked in close collaboration with the Portuguese in power.

The Portuguese showered many favours, benefits, employment and privileges to the converts to Christianity to induce people to adopt the Catholic faith. Some missionaries in turn got involved in politics of the day and made attempts to put Christian converts to the throne. They even got the Portuguese rulers to take over some Buddhist and Hindu temples, destroy the images and convert them to churches.

During the Portuguese times, the Franciscans had 40 odd parishes along the South-Western seaboard from Maha Oya to Matara. There were also mass conversions of several thousands of Karawas in the Kingdom of Kotte. We could still see the Portuguese names, words, music and customs in the Western seaboard from Colombo to Matara.

However the Catholic population is negligible in this region where the Catholic faith seems to have flourished under the Portuguese.

Even the conversions of Karawas could be among the descendants of Cholas who could not have been strong Buddhists. However there were some Catholics who stood by their faith in spite of the Dutch persecution in the succeeding period. As such it is clear that by and large many who adopted the Catholic faith during the Portuguese times were genuine converts.

The successes of the Missionaries during the Portuguese times were mainly due to their closeness to the people. They studied Sinhala and Tamil by the direct painful method and made an attempt to present the Gospel in a manner meaningful to the native population.

They led pure and simple lives and in their holiness stood in sharp contrast to the average Portuguese, their vandalism and scandalous behaviour of their soldiers.

In 1658, the Dutch ousted the Portuguese and took over their domains. For both political and sectarian reasons the Dutch set their face against the Catholics, proscribed the religion, drew away the priests and took over Catholic churches and schools. As a result Catholic activity almost disappeared in the Island. It was blessed Joseph Vaz who came into this country under the guise of a beggar who revived the Catholic faith in Sri Lanka.

Blessed Joseph Vaz and other Oratorians who followed him worked hard and looked after the spiritual welfare of the Catholics under severe oppression, victimisation and humiliation. It has been the history of the Catholic Church that the faith strived at its best when the religion was persecuted. It was so during the Dutch times in Sri Lanka. In fact during this period the Catholic faith strengthened and its roots struck deep down in the soil.

It was also during the Dutch times that a foundation was laid to present the religion with a national setting. Missionaries like Blessed Joseph Vaz, Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez and other Oratorian being Easterners were in a better position to understand Indigenous culture.

They did not transplant Western forms but produced original religious literature in Sinhala and Tamil to suit the cultural traits of the country. They somewhat succeeded in bringing about a synthesis between Christian concepts and oriental cultural patterns.

The British not only granted full religious freedom but also assisted Catholics and other Christian denominations to have public schools and other social institutions. The Catholics being the majority of Christians took advantage of the situation and set up many religious and social institutions.

The foreign missionaries during the British times set up public schools and through them imparted advanced studies on science and technology and Western ideas of liberty, equality and democracy. They also set up well organised institutions to look after the aged, the disabled and the destitute.

Now the foreign missionaries have left our shores and the Church is manned and administered by indigenous clergy. However the magnificent contribution made by the missionaries for the formation and development of the Catholic Church in our country should be acknowledged and appreciated.

It is true that the foreign missionaries with the exception of the Oratorians directly or indirectly acknowledged foreign domination in our country.

They also sought to impose Western culture on people along with the Christian faith. On the other hand these missionaries who came from far distant lands adjusted to the life here, underwent hardships, sacrificed their career, died and laid their bones in this country.

The missionaries treated all the people as equals and helped to do away with some galling effects of the caste system.

They introduced Christian concepts of private and public morality and their influence is seen in our social systems. The educational institutions and social organisations set up by the missionaries are being emulated by other religious denominations.

Whatever the methods adopted by the foreign missionaries they never undermined spirituality in the religion. They have toiled hard for the upkeep of the Catholic faith in our country. They also trained indigenous clergy and left them a disciplined and well organised Church ingrained with spirituality.

The Church in Sri Lanka has been set up on a sure foundation by the missionaries. It has survived may trials and tribulations because of its spiritual fervour and the exemplary lives of the clergy. We have had a lively Catholic community in our country devoted to the religion in contrast to nominal Christians in many countries of the West.

When we take lessons from history we could see that there is no better way to witness to the faith than the holy life, exemplary behaviour and personal example.

The missionaries like Blessed Joseph Vaz, Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez and other Oratorians who worked in Sri Lanka during the Dutch persecution had no political or financial patronage. The Truth was their only weapon and they won souls purely by their sincerity, piety, holiness and personal example.

Since of late there are erosions on the spirituality, sanctity and holiness in the Church by overemphasising secular, material and political aspects.

The clergy today would do well to take a leaf from history and study the role played by the missionaries, especially during the Dutch times, their sincerity and dedication if the Church in Sri Lanka were to maintain its spiritual vigour in the modern world.

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