Fr.Carmine Iannaccone

On November the tenth of the last year I reached Sri Lanka for the first time. My aim was to know the situation of our missionaries and to acquire their needs, beeing their General Procurator.

I arrived to Cholankanda after a ten hours flight, bearing a sudden change of temperature, due to the time-zone , driving for three hours. I attained this village running along a street , climbing higher and higher across flourishing vegetations,opening in a wide area of tea-plantation.

Here Father Carmine Jannaccone carries his work. What strikes me is the personality of this Brother of mine. He is a eighty-three fervent jesuit father, always careful to improve his Boys Town, the institut he manages, housing helpless young people, to whom he teaches to earn their own way of living.

He is mindful to manage the weak earnings, longing meanwhile , to satisfy the exigences of the indigent families , boys and children. It is admirable to see this dear Father fighting resolute, kindled by the ardour arousing onlyby the Holy Spirit of our Lord. In Italy he wold be an old age pensioner!

The second brother I'm visiting is Father Stefanizzi. He accompanies me to his "Kolping Centre" he has founded born to improve the social welfare of the peasants, working in the tea-plantations. This people belong to Maliboda parish-church lying ten km far. This centre includes three small buildings: one is applied for meetings and prayer assemblies; the two others are assigned to housing.

Unforgettable is my trip I begin with Father Fernando, to go and celebrate a S. Mass to a small catholic community. The inhabitants live under protecting cliff-dwellings, on the top of a mountain, revealing to my mind some images and reminiscences of Albania, when I crossed villages and private houses the like of them, to celebrate a S.Mass.

The day after I'll be deeply touched by a moving event : at five in the morning I go into a little chapel where I see Father Stefanizzi kneeling his head on the altar, immersed in prayer: I comprehend the hidden secret of our missionaries: the inner Power of Prayer! How admirable is for me this old eighty Father, tempred in his surprising spiritual eminence!

Now I tell a breaf flash concearning Fr Vito Perniola. He is the dean of the Italian Jesuit Fathers beeing the oldest Father: 85 years old, but surprisingly he seems younger than one can expected. He dwells a modest little flat in Colombo. He has published nine volumes about the "History of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka". He is going to write the tenth volume, planning the writing materials for it. He talks about micro-films which should arrive to him, from the Vatican library, while he moves promptly arond his writing desk covered by papers and documents, having near at hand the computer. He is a sharp witted Father, spreading brightness as a young man.

Fr.Catalano

In Colombo I meet too Fr Catalano, the younger of these jesuit fathers. He is 73 years old, but he is so alive that he seems to be younger than one can imagine. He founded "Shanti Centre" (Peace) and his activity is cospicuous. He enterlaces ecumenic meetings among Christian Churches, and affected dialogues with Buddhists, Hinduistes and Muslims.

But his exuberant concern I perceive, is the promotion in supporting aids towards the 30.000 families living the area of Attidiya, along the outskirts of Colombo. These families are called "the people of the canals" because they live on the border of the canals, once, some centuries ago, built by Dutch, to favour the docking of ships. Now the canals are degraded to open air sewers.

Here refugees families, jobless young people, drug-addected boys, and criminals find shelter in barracks and poor buildings, fighting to survive in this degradation. Father Catalano and I, we enter in this barracks, accomodated to be kindergartens. I see heroic and charitable teachers making voluntary service: they teach them to read to write, to play and dance. They give eating too.

Leaving Sri Lanka I keep in my heart images I can never forget: "the children of the canals"! I appeal the good-hearted people to help these children worthy to hope a better living and a more human future…

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