News
St. Mary’s College, Negombo: A Journey of 150 Years
Archbishop chief celebrant at jubilee mass
St. Mary’s College, Negombo will celebrate its 150th anniversary on Nov 04 with a ‘jubilee mass’ at Grand Street Church, Negombo with the participation of Archbishop of Colombo and patron of the OBA as chief celebrant.
The mass will be followed by the special issue of a First Day cover by the Philatelic Bureau, laying of the foundation stone for ‘Jubilee building; in honour of the late Archbishop Most Rev Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando, an old boy of St. Mary’s College and the issuance of Jubilee Souvenir.
St. Mary’s English Boys’ School had its early humble beginning as a grant-in-aid-school when Rev. Monsignor John Vistarini, the Missionary Priest Mary’s Church- Grand Street, started it in the Mission House in 1871 for the benefit of the children of the Grand Street Mission. Later it become St. Mary’s English Boys’ High School in a new building behind the Mission House in 1872. Rev. Fr. Vistarini was a great visionary with a flair for preaching, education and social work. It was his passion for great humanitarian service that drove him to model the school as a provider of quality and affordable education.
Throughout early history, St. Mary’s Church and St. Mary’s College were administered by the Priest in charge of Grand Street Mission and together has been a beacon of light guiding its children in the path of wisdom gained through knowledge, character and spirituality. These great institutions are deeply involved in helping people learn and work toward wholeness and better character.
The motto of St. Mary’s College is “VIAM SAPIENTIAE MONSTRABO TIBI”, a Latin phrase which is taken from the biblical book of Proverbs (4:11) meaning “I WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY OF WISDOM” in English.
The College has made significant strides under the management of the Catholic Church for almost a century since its beginning. Although it came under government control on January 01 1969, the Church’s influence continued until 1981 when the golden era of rectors ended.
Although education was the primary objective of the college, it went beyond the traditional framework into areas such as leadership, discipline, spirituality, etc., in order to produce well rounded citizens. The college has a reputation of producing a large number of catholic priests, if not the highest. A shining example is the Archbishop Emeritus Rt. Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando who was called to eternal rest on the 11 of April 2019. Fr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando became the youngest, at the age of 44, and the first diocesan priest to be appointed Archbishop on March 30, 1977, and since then His Grace had spearheaded and guided the Catholic flock with admiration.
Tribute is paid to all those who contributed to bringing this hallowed institution into reality including the founding Father Vistarini, the Oblate Fathers, Christian Brothers, Marist Brothers, and all the lay teachers. A deep debt of gratitude is also owed to the members of the OBA right from the inception for their steadfastness in helping the college in numerous ways.
Today the college is being administered by Rector, Rev. Fr. Hemantha Fernando assisted by a faculty of able and qualified staff which has brought renewed hope of re-inventing the former glory.
By AJA Abeynayake
The Attorney General informed the Supreme Court on Thursday (27) that Rs. 245 million from the funds obtained from the respondents, as per the verdict delivered on 12 January 2023 by a seven-judge bench led by the Chief Justice, had been paid as compensation to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks. The case stemmed from fundamental rights petitions filed against the respondents’ failure to prevent the coordinated attacks. To monitor the disbursement of these funds, 13 related fundamental rights petitions were taken up on Thursday before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Murdu Fernando, Justices S. Thurairaja, and A.H.M.D. Nawaz. Representing the Attorney General, Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena informed the court that Rs. 311 million had been allocated for compensation, of which Rs. 245 million had already been distributed among 412 individuals, including the families of 215 deceased victims.
She further stated that Rs. 65 million from the allocated funds was expected to be used for victims’ medical treatment and for the care of affected elderly individuals.
President’s Counsel Shamil Perera and Sanjeeva Jayawardena, appearing on behalf of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, respectively, told the court that they had not yet received detailed reports on the compensation payments.
Chief Justice Fernando asked the Additional Solicitor General why those reports had not been provided to the relevant parties. The Additional Solicitor General responded that the proceedings were focused on monitoring the disbursement of compensation to victims.
The Chief Justice, however, noted that withholding those reports from the petitioners did not align with the objectives of the case. She ordered that the reports be immediately provided to the Cardinal and the other petitioners.The court scheduled the next hearing of the petitions for 21 May.
…. Gnanakka also received Rs. 28 mn
Chief Government Whip Minister Nalinda Jayathissa said on Thursday that the Ranil Wickremesinghe government had spent an additional Rs. 1,125 million as compensation for individuals whose houses were destroyed in 2022.
That was in addition to the Rs. 1,221 million paid to politicians as compensation, Minister Jayatissa said, revealing that an astrologer called Gnanakka from Anuradhapura had received Rs. 28 million in compensation for her Devalaya destroyed by mobs in 2022. (SI)
By Saman Indrajith
During yesterday’s parliamentary session, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya disclosed the expenditure incurred by the state on foreign trips undertaken by Sri Lanka’s Presidents.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s foreign trips between 2010 and 2014 cost Rs 3,572 million. His successor, Maithripala Sirisena spent Rs 384 million on overseas travel from 2015 to 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa spent Rs. 126 million from 2019 to 2022, while President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s foreign travel between 2023 and 2024 cost the state Rs 533 million.
In contrast, the current president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had spent only Rs 1.8 million on foreign travel since assuming office in September 2024, the PM said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the most expensive year for presidential foreign travel during that period was 2013, when Mahinda Rajapaksa’s trips alone amounted to an unprecedented Rs 1,144 million.
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