Missionaries for Sri Lanka

Helfen Sie Stipendiaten, wie Kasun, als Priesterausbilder, ihre Frucht zu vermehren!

“Priest. I want to be a priest!”

…the seven-year-old second grader Kasun announced to his classmates when the question about his career choice came up at school. Born in Panadura in 1997, Kasun grew up with his two brothers in his religious family. The family’s economic situation required several moves and the mother’s work. His deeply religious grandmother looked after the children, and her shining example helped ensure that her grandchildren’s religious upbringing fell on fertile ground: Kasun longed from an early age to receive his first Holy Communion because he wanted to finally be able to become an altar boy. When he was allowed to serve at the altar for the first time the day after his White Sunday, he was overjoyed. He was admitted to the boys’ seminar a year before he reached the minimum age of 13. One of his brothers is a Benedictine seminarian.

His bishop recognized and encouraged Kasun’s special talents early on. He asked him to leave the seminary for a while to pursue further training at two other institutes. Kasun followed this wish, took IT courses, acquired basic economic knowledge and learned academic English. He then continued his philosophical and theological studies.

Languages as pioneers

When the bishop asked him to learn Tamil in the north of the country, Kasun changed his place of residence again and quickly learned this demanding language, whose alphabet consists of 247 letters! And since he had already acquired knowledge of Latin, learning European languages was easy for him; That was also what his bishop had wanted from him. This was preparing him for the next journey: Kasun was supposed to complete his education at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome. Kasun is currently in his first year of studying theology here.

The loving providence of God

Kasun experiences living together and exchanging ideas with seminarians from other countries as a blessing that broadens his horizons and his view of people, their thoughts, the world and a wide variety of cultures. In his intensive training, Kasun gratefully recognizes the loving providence of God who is preparing him for his future mission in the Church. Kasun, who already knows every seminary in Sri Lanka, believes and hopes that he will later be able to pass on his education as a trainer to seminarians in his homeland. Every day he prays that God would mold him into the priest He Himself wants to use to build His Church.

We kindly ask you:

Accompany Kasun’s vocation and formation with your prayers and, if possible, help with your generous donation so that scholarship holders like him can in the future train local missionary priests and build up the church!

Thank you for your solidarity!