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The foremost Catholic scholar turns 90

by W.T.A. Leslie Fernando

Rt. Rev. Dr. W.L.A. Don Peter, the well known Catholic priest, educationist, historian, writer, poet, author, journalist and patriot turns 90 in the journey of life on September 25, 2005. He is the foremost Catholic scholar 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 Seminary. He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1941 by Dr. J.M. Masson, the then Archbishop of Colombo.

From 1941 to 1946, he served as an assistant parish priest at St. Mary's Church, Grand Street - Negombo and then 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 studies and prefect of discipline at St. Joseph's.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter, who studied Pali on his own at the Seminary itself, now began to lean towards Oriental 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 the talents of Fr. Don Peter. In 1950 Archbishop Thomas Cooray sent him abroad for further studies. He studied missiology for one year at the Urbanian University, taking up 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 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 Education,' Fr. Don Peter brings forth the spirituality of the 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. 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 that Fr. Don Peter had to face hard times. However, Fr. Don Peter steered St. Joseph's as a private non-fee levying school without resorting to any fat 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 Rt. Rev. Monsingnor 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, that on one occasion there was a strike by students 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 meet the needs of time.

On July 12, 1975 Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter was appointed the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Colombo. This appointment was made when there were two auxiliary Bishops and another Vicar General in the Diocese. He was assigned the special duties of parish life and ministry, educational apostolate and Diocesan apostolate and the communication media.

Fr. Don Peter was doing excellent work in his new assignment when Thomas Cardinal Cooray retired in 1976. It was Fr. Don Peter who was tipped to succeed him but things worked otherwise. As Fr. Don Peter was a strict disciplinarian some priests who did not like him petitioned to the Vatican against him. As a result the post of the Archbishop of Colombo remained vacant for nearly a year and at the end Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando was made the Archbishop.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter left the Archbishop's House in May 1977 and took up residence in 'Bethany', 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 term. In the second term from 1978 to 1989 Fr. Don Peter expanded the curriculum of Aquinas by introducing new courses - diploma in Journalism, agriculture and computer technology.

He extended the buildings of Aquinas as well. In 1979 he constructed a new block with seven classrooms. In 1987, he set up a large auditorium and the old hall was converted to classrooms. The new auditorium was declared open by the Archbishop of Colombo. It was named 'Don Peter Auditorium' on the appeal of the staff in appreciation of Fr. Don Peter's services to Aquinas in particular, and Catholic education in general.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter has made deep insights to the Church history in Sri Lanka. In 1963 he presented the work 'Studies in Ceylon Church History' embodying his historical research. Fr. Don Peter was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain in 1965. Both Prof. George D. Winius of Holland and Prof. C.R. de Silva of Sri Lanka have expressed the view that Fr. don Peter is the worthy successor to Fr. S.G. Perera, the great historian in Sri Lanka.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter is well known for his zest for research and zealous application to work with a great capacity to maximise the use of time. He has presented over two scores of books and written over 400 articles both in Sinhala and in English for journals here and abroad. He is a much respected writer whose lucid style of writing provides fascinating reading.

Fr. Don Peter has also written a series of novels for children and some of them have been re-printed several times. His novel Vanagatha Lamo, a story of jungle adventure has gone through nine editions. His novel Tekkawatte Kathava written in 1998, won the Presidential award for the best children's novel in 1998.

Ad Multos Annos (The writer is a former High Court Judge)

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