Oblate seminary marks 50 years of service

As many Religious orders struggle to find new members, the major seminary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), celebrating 50 years in Sri Lanka, has seen strong growth in the number of students.

Oblate superior general Father Wilhelm Steckling (extreme left) being greeted by local priests on his visit to Sri Lanka

From just 15 in 1981, the number of priests in training has risen to 28 this year.

The congregation arrived in Sri Lanka in 1847 and now has nearly 300 Oblate brothers and priests working in the country, including the troubled Jaffna province.

The congregation is seeking new missions to promote ethnic harmony and is sending Religious to other Asian countries including Bangladesh, Japan, South Korea and Pakistan.

Father Reginald Lucian, who heads the Oblate seminary in Kandy, says his congregation members have also been at the forefront of work to pick up the pieces of broken lives in the wake of the country´s decades-long civil war.

“Some of our brothers recently worked in the camps of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), looking after them, feeding them, bathing them and helping them as part of their work,” said Father Lucian.

Father Clement Waidyasekara, who heads the Oblates´ Colombo province, said: “It´s our challenge to respond to people´s needs, aspirations, hopes and grief during the post-war period in the country, taking into consideration especially the future of the injured, traumatized, families without breadwinners, displaced people and war victims both of the North and the South.”

Belgian missioner Father Fernand Moyses, the oldest foreign Oblate priest in the country

Father Joseph Srinath, who was ordained in 2009 as an Oblate priest, agrees. “Practical experiences have made us aware of what is happening around us and the real challenges faced by the ordinary flock in their day-to-day work,” he says.

“This has given us a clear understanding about our vocation and it is an important part of our formation.”

Oblate superior general Father Wilhelm Steckling visited Sri Lanka and participated in the seminary´s golden jubilee celebrations on Dec. 8.

“We are called for an integral formation. For us as Oblates, today´s challenge is to be holy Religious, holy priests and holy brothers,” said the German priest.

Father Fernand Moyses, the oldest foreign Oblate priest in the country who came from Belgium in 1946, said he is still very happy in his priesthood.

“When I came here, I knew only French but I got used to the Sri Lankan food, climate and culture and I love the Sri Lankan people,” said the 90-year-old.