Rev. Fr. Dr. Aloysius Peiris S. J. By Sr. Frances de Silva & Dr. Ms. Sheila Fernando & Others

 Introduction

Fr. Aloysius Peiris had his primary education at a school in his home town, Kandy, & was admitted to St. Aloysius College, Galle in 1949, at around the age of fifteen. He resided at the College Boarding House as well as  St. Xavier's Seminary at Kalegana. He came under the  spiritual influence of  Rev. Fr. Vito Perniola S. J. , the Rector &  Rev. Fr. Aloysius De Mattia S. J. . Fr. Perniola , may also have influenced Fr. Peiris to specialise in Oriental Languages & engage in the study of Buddhism.
Fr. Peiris was a few years ahead of us at the College, but he was well known to us as students, because he used to carry away most of the prizes in his class at the Annual Prize Giving.
Fr. Peiris sat for the Senior School Certificate examination & the London General Certificate Examination - Advanced Level & passed with several distinctions.

Fr. Aloysius Peiris S. J. at SAC

He entered the Jesuit Order in 1953/54 & left for India. He returned to SAC a few years later as Sub Prefect. His spiritual journey  & achievements thereafter appear below.

Courtesy : https://tulana.org/aloysius-pieris-s-j

BIBLIOGRAPHY – 

REV. FR ALOYSIUS PIERIS, S.J.

Bio-Bibliographical Information on REV. FR ALOYSIUS PIERIS, S.J., Theologian and Indologist

(Prepared by Sr Frances de Silva, the Tulana Archivist and updated by Dr. Ms Sheila Fernando in 2015)

The information given here is incomplete as Fr Pieris has not cared to maintain any record of his activities, writings and lectures. This list is made possible thanks to the labour of the Tulana Archivist, Sr Frances de Silva, who began to collect the material from 1976 onwards. So far, only two of the earliest articles (published in the 1950s and early 1960s) have been traced by her. Also few of the writings in Sinhalese (appearing from 1960s onwards) are still being searched but the recent ones found by Dr Sheila Fernando are listed at the end.

I. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Born: 9 April1934
Jesuit since 23 December1953
Presbyter since 4 July1965

Early Education

1. Primary education: Jesuit run St Mary’s School, Ampitiya
2. Secondary Education: Jesuit run  St Aloysius College, Galle

Higher Education

1. Ecclesiastical Studies  (Pontifical Degrees recognized by Secular Universities)

L.Ph (Sacred Heart College, Shembaganur),1959
STL (Pontifical Theological Faculty, S. Luigi, Naples),1966
ThD (Tilburg),1987

2. Secular Studies

BA (First Class Honours in Pali & Sanskrit, Univ. of London),1961

PhD (in Buddhist Philosophy, Univ. of Sri Lanka, Vidyodaya Campus),1971

Diploma in Prepolyphonic Music, Fond. Cini, Venice.1964

Professorships (Chairs) held

1. Franciscan Chair of Mission Studies, Washington Theological Union, Maryland, USA (1987)
2. Henry Luce Chair of World Christianity, Union Theological Seminary [cross-registration with Columbia University], New York, USA(1988),
3. A.P.Wilson Distinguished Visiting Chair of Theology, Divinity School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA(1992)

Special Lectureships

1. Teape Westcott Lectures, Univ. of Cambridge, 1982
2. Martin D’Arcy Lectures, Univ. of Oxford, 1990
3. Drawbridge Lecture, King’s College, Univ. of London, 1990
4. Von Hugel Lecture, St Edmund’s College, Univ. of Cambridge, 1990

Taught Courses

1. Gregorian University, Rome (1972-73)
2. Pontifical Theological Faculty, Naples, 1973
3. Graduate Theological Union, Berkley [cross-registration with Univ. of California, Berkley] USA, 19763.
4. East Asian Pastoral Institute of the Athaneo de Manila University, Philippines, (from 1972/3 to1993/94)
5. Vidyodaya Pirivena, Pali and Buddhist University, Colombo(1993)
6. Prajnà Pitha, Jesuit Institute of Integrated Religious Studies, Kandy

Conducted Seminars

1. Post-Graduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Kelaniya University (March 2006)

2.. Dept of Western Civilization and Christian Culture, Kelaniya University, 2009 and2010.

Public Lectures (incomplete list)

1. Dept of Religious Studies, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz Campus, USA, 1976
2. Ecumenical Institute, Munster University, Germany, 1981
3. Department of Theology, Birmingham University, UK, 1982
4. Missiological Faculties ( of the Universities of Holland), gathered at Utrecht University, 1979.
5. University of Leeds, UK.
6. Maynooth College, Dublin University, Ireland
7. Athaneo de Manila University, Philippines.
8. St Xavier’s University, Cagayan d’oro, Philippines.
9. Sophia University, Tokyo (lectures given conjointly with Gusatavo Gutierrez).
10. University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Examiner or Supervisor of Post-GraduateStudents

1. Tubingen University, Germany.
2. Serampore University, India
3. Post-Graduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
4. Jnanadip Institute of Philosophy, Pune,India
5. Vidyajyoti Faculty of Theology, Delhi, India
6. Pali and Buddhist University, Colombo (Vidyodaya Pirivena).
7. Dept of Western Culture & Christianity, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
8. University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
9. Hong Kong University (Buddhist StudiesDepartment)

Editorial 

1. Co-Founder and Co-Editor of Dialogue NS (with Dr Lynn A de Silva), since1974 and also the current editor
2. Member of Editorial Board of Directors, Concilium (International Theological Journal) since 1986 (resigned due to ill-health, but serving in the Advisory Board)
3. Member of the Board of Editorial Advisory Panel of World Faith Encounter,London.
4. Editor, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection, (International Journal of Theology), Kelaniya.

Positions inInstitutions

1. Founder-Director, Tulana Research Centre, Kelaniya, from 1974.
2. Co-founder, Patron and Trust Board Member of Sr Greta Nalawatta’s Centre for Education of Hearing Impaired Children, Dalugama, from 1982.
3. Member of the International Board of Advisors on Inter-faith and Inter-churchRelations (Jesuit headquarters, Rome), 2011-2013.
4. Advisor, Dilaltato Corde  Inter-Monastic Dialogue (USA)

Resource Person (incomplete list)

1. Inter-monastic Congress II, Bangalore, 1973
2. Inter-monastic Congress III, Kandy, 1980
3. Asian Theological Conference, EATWOT, Wennappuwa, Sri Lanka, 1979
4. Tricontinental Conference of EATWOT, New Delhi, 1981
5. SEDOS Congress on the Future of Missions, Rome, 1983?
6. Tricontinental Consultation of EATWOT, New Delhi, 1987.
7. South East Asian Major Superiors Fifth Congress, Manila, 1985
8. Bishops’ Institute of Social Action VI, (FABC), Kandy19??
9. Bishops’ Institute of Social Action, VII (FABC), Thailand, 1986
10. Asia Pacific, Regional Chapter of Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Bangalore, 1989
11. Good Shepherd Provincial Chapter, Wattala, ??
12. Good Shepherd Provincial Chapter, Wattala, ??
13. Christian Brothers Regional Chapter, Mutuwal, 1994
14. Christian Brothers Regional Chapter, Mutuwal, 2004.
15. Columban Seminar, Dublin, Ireland, 198?
16. Marist Brothers’ 10th International Conference, Negombo, 2005.

Membership

1. Sri Lanka Association of Buddhist Studies (SLABS), Sri Lanka.
2. Pali Text Society (London/Oxford).
3. Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians

Dissertations on the Theology of Fr Aloysius Pieris
A rough estimate of over 50 such dissertations is conjectured. The list is still in the process of being prepared from footnotes of articles and books where such dissertations are cited.

II. BIBILIOGRAPHY (Books, Articles in European languages and Sinhala) 

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Courtesy :https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/doctor-of-letters-d-litt-award-for-fr-aloysius-pieris/

Doctor Of Letters – D. Litt. Award For Fr. Aloysius Pieris
By
Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda

Fr. Aloysius Pieris of the Society of Jesus was awarded the above doctorate from the University of Kelaniya on the 23rd of November by its chancellor the Venerable Kusala Dhamma Himi, at a ceremony held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall.

Much can be said of Fr. Pieris’s unique academic qualifications and listing them here would be like a repetition of the same Sunday homily of a parish priest. But for the sake of those who have not known him let me mention a few of them. He is an erudite scholar, researcher, Indologist and has been a professor at about 20 reputed universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, London, Vanderbilt in the USA, and so on to mention a few.

He has to his credit authored 20 books, some of which are now used as texts in certain universities. He has published approximately 300 research papers in local and international journals. Fr. Pieris’s publications include many scholarly articles on both canonical and post-canonical Pali literature as well as on Abhidhammika philosophy. Some of his writings have appeared in many Western languages such as Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and also in Asian languages such as Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.

He has had a rare opportunity of learning Sanskrit and Pali under two most revered teachers, Sanskrit under the Indian pundit V.
 Varadari Thiupathi of Hindu University of India and Pali under an internationally renowned Pali scholar Rev. Dr. Fr. Vito Perniola sj. In 1961 he graduated from the University of London in both Pali and Sanskrit with first class honours.


He is also an internationally known and respected theologian. His doctoral studies in theology were completed in the Pontifical Theological Faculty, S. Luigi, Naples in 1966. Later in 1987, the Tilburg University of Netherlands awarded him another doctorate in recognition of his pioneering work on an “Asian Theology of Liberation”. During the 1980s he was the most sought after resource person to the Asian Bishops’ Conference.

It is no secret that in the colonial era, the Christians treated everything that is non-Christian as anathema. But since the 1960s with Vatican II and the changes ushered in the Catholic Church, the spirit of triumphalism of the middle-ages began to wither away and Church’s self understanding was transformed into the model of a servant Church. It was in this climate that Fr. Peiris began his doctoral studies in Buddhist Philosophy at the Vidyodaya University. His name has gone into history as the first Christian to have obtained a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. In recognition of the contribution he has made in this field he was offered membership of the Pali Text Society and Sri Lanka Association of Buddhist Studies. It is recorded that about 50 post graduates from several universities have done dissertations on the method and content of his thought.

A piece of writing on Fr. Aloysius Pieris is not complete without a reference to Tulana which was founded by him in 1974. The meaning of the name TULANA is a centre for discernment, combining intellectual and active social life. A part of its mission is to make available the services of the reference library at Tulana, where there is a collection of rare books on history, philosophy, theology and Buddhist studies, for those who seek help for the advancement of their academic and intellectual careers. Moreover, Fr. Pieris personally makes himself available for consultation and guidance for foreign and local students who frequent Tulana for their study and research.

Tulana is also a house for retreat and reflection, a centre for social animation, a forum for inter-religious dialogue mainly Buddhist-Christian, a seat for theological renewal and a place for various cultural expressions and exchanges. One can find at the Tulana art gallery expressions of Buddhist understanding of Christianity in various forms of art done by Buddhists themselves.

The origin of Tulana lies in the experiences of Aloysius Pieris who witnessed the youth uprising of 1971. It is those experiences which inspired him to leave a teaching appointment at the Gregorian University and return to Sri Lanka to start Tulana as a centre for encounter.


Therefore the mission is not only to serve the intellectual development of various people but also as a venue for the peripheral people in all walks of life to meet and share experiences in a climate of dialogue and mutual support.

In the world view of Fr. Aloy, the intellectual life or the world of ideas and active social life are closely linked to each other in a praxis. Accordingly, in real life, the two aspects do not exist in alienation and separated from each other. The process of understanding or learning within a person becomes more complete and authentic only if he or she ends up in involvement or action in the direction of changing society for the wellbeing of life on earth. The ideas are empty and barren unless applied to promote the wellbeing of life. Thus, Tulana is also an open house for the victims of social injustices and burnt-up activists to rest, recuperate, invigorate before returning to their missions with recovered vigour.

The uniqueness of the theological expositions of Fr. Pieris is that they explain the depth of biblical faith, in contrast to pure dogmatic formulas as found in the traditional and European theology. The foundation of biblical faith is the experiences of a community of slaves who has struggled for liberation. In the light of such experiences, theology for Fr. Pieris is not mere speculation or seeking rational explanation to the problems of human existence. Therefore, listening to the word of God also means involvement in the history of the people, in the concerns of the peasants, workers and the marginalized who suffer injustices and fighting against oppression in view of working towards the birth of a new society.

Faith in the God of the bible implies also an invitation to change the present unjust social system while journeying beyond this world. Therefore the main issue in Christian faith is not orthodoxy but orthopraxis.

The award of the Kelaniya University will be seen as a mark of his academic contribution, a recognition made by the academic world. Fr. Pieris well deserves such a tribute. Nevertheless, that does not overshadow another key dimension of his contribution to the field of human liberation. His study of Asian religions has exposed the core values of a revolutionary spirit, which if evoked in men and women of the under-class would motivate them to fight against the modern forces of the mammon namely organized acquisitiveness, selfishness and consumerism.


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Courtesy :http://www.ihtheologianprize.org/award.html

International Harmony Theologian Prize

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Pieris S.J.

 
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Pieris S.J. received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Philosophy at the University of Sri Lanka, Vidyodaya Campus in 1971 and his Th.D. in Ecclesiastical Studies at the Tilburg University, the Netherlands in 1987.

He held professorship for Franciscan Chair of Mission Studies, Washington Theological Union in Maryland in 1987, Henry Luce Chair of World Christianity, Union Theological Seminary in New York, and A.P. Wilson Distinguished Visiting Chair of Theology, Divinity School at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, the USA. He was appointed to special lectureships at Teape Westcott Lectures, University of Cambridge in 1982; Martin D’ Arcy Lecture, University of Oxford in 1990; Drawbridge Lecture, King’s College, University of London in 1990; Von Hugel Lecture, St. Edmund’s college, University of Cambridge in 1990. He also taught courses at the Gregorian University, Rome, Pontifical Theological Faculty, Naples, Graduate Theological Union, Berkley, East Asian Pastoral Institute of the Athaneo de Manila University, Philippines, Vidyodaya Pirivena, Pali and Buddhist University, Colombo, etc.

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Pieris S.J. held numerous public lectures in theology around the globe, including University of California in the USA, Munster University in Germany, Birmingham University in the UK, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, University of Leeds in the UK, Dublin University in Ireland, Athaneo de Manila University and St Xavier’s University in the Philippines, Sophia University in Tokyo and Kelaniya University in Sri Lanka.

He was also appointed to various editorial positions. He is the co-founder and co-editor of Dialogue NS since 1974 and also the current editor; member of Editorial Board of Directors of Concilium (International Theological Journal) in 1986, currently serving in the Advisory Board; member of the Board of Editorial Advisory Panel of World Faith Encounter in London; editor of Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection, Kelaniya. Other than the aforementioned positions, Rev. Fr. Aloysius Pieris S.J. is also the founder-director of the Tulana Research Centre in Kelaniya since 1974, the co-founder of Patron and Trust Board Member of Sr Greta Nalawatta’s Centre for Education of Hearing Impaired Children in Dalugama since year 1982. He is also the member of the International Board of Advisors on Inter-faith and Inter-Church Relations from 2011 to 2013, and advisor of DilaltatoCorde Inter-Monastic Dialogue.

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Pieris S.J. had written numerous publications,including An Asian Theology of Liberation, Love Meets Wisdom: A Christian Experience of Buddhism, El Rostro Asiatico de Cristo, Fire and Water: Basic Issues in Asian Buddhism and Christianity, God’s Reign for God’s Poor: A Return to the Jesus Formula, Mysticism of Service, Christhood of Jesus and the Discipleship of Mary: An Asian Perspective, Studies in the Philosophy and the Literature of Pali Abhidhammika Buddhism, Prophetic Humour in Buddhism and Christianity: Doing Inter-Religious Studies in the Reverential Mode, Our Unhidden Agenda: How We Jesuits Work, Pray and Form Our Men, ssThe Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation: An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologizing in Asia, and many others,he has also written and published more than 330 articles. Stephen B. Bevans acknowledged Rev. Fr. Pieris as one of the significant theologians to represent a serious effort to overcome exclusivism and pluralism.

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Courtesy:  https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/news-features/A-loving-tribute-to-Fr-Aloy-on-His-90th-birthday-renowned-scholar-and-good-shephard/131-287112

A loving tribute to Fr. Aloy on His 90th birthday renowned scholar and good shepherd

By Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Fernando OMI

13 Jul 2024  - 372    


 Fr. Aloysius Pieris, SJ was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera on Nov. 23, 2019.

Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, ‘THE MISSIONARY OBLATE’ had gone to press by that time. Immediately, I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for Inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.

It was in 1988 (when I was appointed ‘Director of the Oblate Scholastics’ at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya. 

Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of Leaders/Provincials of Religious Congregations. 


NEEDED RENEWAL

Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal, I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment.  In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator/guide and ongoing formator/acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefitted from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.

AUTHOR


Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Honourary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi  Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work.  He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.


ONLY REGRET


In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences.  The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy--- have not sought Fr. Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefitted  from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of  the 2nd Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters while among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.

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Courtesy :

https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/opinion/an-epochal-trendsetter-fr-aloysius-pieris-sj/172-97479

An Epochal Trend Setter Fr. Aloysius Pieris SJ

By Dr. Shanthikumar Hettiarachchi

30 Nov 2015      

Who are Trend Setters.

The late Bhikkhu Maduluwawe Sobitha possibly was the most spoken about person ever since he fell ill, the non-return Singapore medical pursuit, the demise, the State funeral, and the post funeral debate in the last few weeks and will perhaps continue for some months to come. Even though he was known for being a hard core nationalist in the second phase of his life (Wickramabahu Karunaratne, GaminiViyangoda and Mahinda Ratnayaka, see. Ravaya, 15/11/2015), but is now revered as a model of a trend setter within Sri Lanka’s religious, and socio-political  landscape, not without other critical views about his contradictory roles and utterances. Shifting to the next influential religious community, the Christians too inherit such persons of national and even international significance of setting trends.

The late Tissa Balasuriya OMI named late bishops Leo Nanayakkara  OSB(Catholic) and Lakshman Wickremesinghe (Anglican) as TREND SETTERS who were also his mentors. These men had challenging tasks of recognising and rooting those trends and safeguarding and expanding them despite the winds of ecclesiastical  rigidity, apathetic conservatism and theological stagnation of their respective denominations. Bhikkhu Sobhita apparently had undergone enormous tribulations of various nature as we hear and read the posthumous reporting from different quarters. Possible lack of aftercare and political disappointments even though he steered the current regime’s January victory 2015.

Some of that accountability agenda was sharply expressed at his funeral by some who spoke. However, by the time of his demise he might have grown out of these baseless bickering and even disowned excessive praiseworthiness. What I wish to focus here is another important senior TREND SETTER of the Christian community among us, but someone who preferred ‘the periphery’ rather than the focus and limelight of the centre. He helped evolve ‘the periphery’, central to the life of the Christian community, its role in this country and reminded them that they are Asian Christians and not necessarily Christians in Asia with a cultural aloofness to the context. For this and many of his intellectual and academic achievements, he was awarded D.Lit honorary degree at the General Convocation of the University of Kelaniya at the BMICH on November 23, 2015. The citation read at the convocation was symbolic of the stature of his erudition and the application of scholarship to address issues of society and development of thought.

 Fr. Aloysius Pieris: A Trend Setter !

If I had to pick one idea that made a breakthrough in the denomination centred mission and missiology and that which helped inter denominational solidarity in the history of ecumenism  is the concept of Missio Dei or the Missio ex Trinitate skilfully used by Karl Hertenstein at the International Missionary Council in Wellingen, way back in 1952 to denote totality of God’s activity which was later expanded by the World Student Christian Federation in 1960 in Strasbourg which infused a new meaning to mission, binding all Christians in a mission to Mission (Werner Ustorf) of the entire political world  instead of a God-church-world triangle which sometimes resulted in narrow theological and Christological bottle neck interpretations.  It focussed on Christian praxis in society. Fr. Aloy was absorbed in this vision in his own context setting the trend for himself and others.

If I had to pick an institution that paved the way for ecumenical resurgence in the world  and hope for the Christian kerygma is the World Council of Churches (WCC) that even challenged the Roman Catholic hierarchy and its theologians to rise up from their theological slumber as early as 1940’s and 50’s. Fr. Aloy focussed on his Catholic heritage but foresaw that real catholicity was beyond the Vatican stipulations and  was rooted in the Gospel of Jesus and his love ethic. He was willing to consider WCC’s pioneering ecumenical relations that could set trends for new theological pursuits and institutional changes. Never imposed but exposed deficits within to repair them diligently with enormous pastoral care.

If I had to pick one centripetal movement setter that led a path to ecumenism in this country then it is undoubtedly the Uduvil Conference in 1953 with 125 delegates in a country throbbing with nationalist feelings. It set the scene for the formation of the National Christian Council (NCC) in Sri Lanka held in  Colombo in 1954 declared boldly  “as a community we support wholeheartedly the national demand for self-government”, they were fully engaged in missiopoliticaeucumenica even though such can be described as a compromise on the part of some other Christian groups.Fr. Aloy humbly accepted that the Protestant churches were much more progressive than his own church and he set the timeline to learn and nurture movements and their activists with theological rootedness, cultural care, wisdom of the socio-political entrepreneurship and the need to invest all of it in nation building and for a shared future for Sri Lanka.

If I had to pick an indigenous theologian who was brave enough to push the unbendable boundaries of his own rigid church and granted for himself  and others permission on behalf of the people to do theology, and one who taught many  ‘to drink from our own wells’, then it is our own  Fr Aloy. Hence, he is a TREND SETTER of our times and deserves the honour he received by a premier academic institution of Sri Lanka, the University of Kelaniya.

 Vidyodaya, Kelaniya - Alma MaterUniversity of Ceylon, Vidyodaya campus, from which Fr. Aloy obtained his doctorate in Buddhist Studies, today as the University of Kelaniya was convinced that Rev. Fr. Aloysius Pieris sj be awarded Doctor of  Literature (D.Lit) to one of the rarest and  illustrious students for a long time to come. It is a legacy that the very University whose history has been inspired by a range of erudite generation of bhikkhus of valour and erudition of the celebrated Vidyodaya Pirivena, under the tutelage of Bhikkhu Kotagama Vachissara and bhikkhu Walpola Rahula too have been also mentors of Fr. Aloy during his student days and remained Kalyanamittas (admirable friends) of productive acquaintance for the next generation of scholars.  Fr. Aloy’s diversified intellectual pursuits combined with infectiously subtle humour and expanding these through the appreciation of  art, passion for aesthetic beauty are rare to be found in one single person. It is these infrequent combinations that led him to commit to scholarship, innovative critical thinking, sharp erudition to ideas,  their formulation with unobtrusive theological rigour and the enabling attitude  for the hearers also to respond critically and make sense.

 "Bhikkhu Sobhita apparently had undergone enormous tribulations of  various nature as we hear and read the posthumous reporting from  different quarters."

The originality of this intellectual exercise remains exceptional among the contemporary scholarship even intercontinentally. This is what made him a scholar of unique pedigree where he is able to think, read and express one’s ideas back and forth via Pali and Sanskrit, Aramaic and Hebrew, Latin and Greek, Italian and English and still express all of it in his native tongue, Sinhala. The D.Lit honorary degree to Fr. Aloysius Pieris though a bit late to be awarded yet its timely at a time when another Trend Setter in the Buddhist world, Bhikkhu Sobhita has already left a leadership vacuum in non-partisan positioning in Sri Lanka.

 "It is a legacy that the very University whose history has been inspired  by a range of erudite generation of bhikkhus of valour and erudition of  the celebrated Vidyodaya Pirivena"

Aloysius Pieris excels as another critical national symbol of real non-partisan disposition firstly inside his own ecclesiastically conservative structures. Secondly he also disowns the ‘pay as you go’ party politics of all political parties of this country, especially the regimes since 1977 to the current. Many would have been more edified if this specific Pierisian non-partisan disposition that he held with unequivocal ethical ground was also mentioned in the already comprehensive D.Lit citation read at the convocation. Because it would have been so auspicious as it was also at the BMICH precincts that the late Bhikkhu Sobitha, another trend setter I mention above,at his 73rd birthday demanded with distinct courage, the  ‘ten propositions’ toward building a democratic and a just society in the presence of the new president and the new prime minister. Because the Trend Setters with their integrity, honesty and freedom of conscience become the corner stones of non-partisan way of life and middle ground of the view of life. The trend setter in the person of Fr. Aloy embraced, learned and emulated the teachings of his master, Jesus of Nazareth, Gautama the Buddha, his teacher, and  both encounters and experiences seemed to have been understood in the Ignatian way where over 60 years of his religious life had been formed and nourished.

Reading Fr. Aloy

Reading Fr. Aloy at depth one would believe that ecumenically and prophetically to witness, associate and to work with other fellow Christians is an act of faith, a movement of grace and charity at home. Still undefined territory of missiology of the Christian tradition is being consistently challenged in every age we embark, whether be Communism, Colonialism, Secularism, Nationalism or Terrorism. Fr. Aloy and his extensive work has enabled many to think critically has helped them change the view of life and for some even to rethink their ways of life. The research centre he built, Tulana stands today perhaps as a national centre for dialogue and Buddhist Christian encounter in the heart of Kelaniya,  a Buddhist bastion of history and devotion. Tulana he built is his gift to the nation and not just the Jesuits or the Christians. It is an alternative university by its very meaning where theory and praxis both have met and is still encountering in critical discourse to find best expression  in the idiom most comfortable to the discussants. Tulana is a symbol of new way of being church in the periphery and making that periphery most central to free oneself to experience one’s core of being here and now. D. Lit which was awarded to him by the University of Kelaniya, he would consider as a recognition of  all those who came to Tulana, who heard him, read him in their freedom of conscience, of  independent ideas and the humility of living  simple. It’s the Pierisian challenge which he experiments on himself for a very long time, and he invites us to attempt it to be worthy of being what one wishes to become.

End.