As many Religious orders struggle to find new members, Sri Lanka’s Oblates of Mary Immaculate seminary is celebrating its 50th anniversary with strong growth in the number of students.

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

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.

Fr 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.

Fr 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 of the north and war victims.”

Fr 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.”

Fr 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.

Oblate superior general Fr Wilhelm Steckling also visited Sri Lanka and participated in the golden jubilee celebrations on Dec. 8.

SOURCE

Oblate seminary marks 50 years of service ^[1] (UCA News)