, native_name_lang = Sinhala , image = National Seminary Sri Lanka.jpg , image_upright = , image_alt = , caption = Old chapel and new buildings at the National Seminary , latin_name = , other_name = , former_name = , motto = la, Parare Plebem Perfectam , motto_lang = Latin , mottoeng = To prepare perfect people , top_free_label = , top_free = , type =

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, established = , founder = , parent = , accreditation = , affiliation =

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, religious_affiliation =

Roman catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, academic_affiliations =

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, endowment = , budget = , officer_in_charge = , chair = , chairman = Winston Fernando , chairperson = , chancellor = , president = , vice_president = , superintendent = , vice_chancellor = , provost = , rector = Expeditus Jayakody , principal = , director = P. Christunayagam , dean = , head_label = , head = , academic_staff = , total_staff = , students = 280 , undergrad = , postgrad = , doctoral = , alumni = , other_students = , address = , city =

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

, state = , province = Central Province , country =

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, postalcode = , coordinates = , language = English
Sinhala

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, free_label = , colors = , sports_nickname = , sporting_affiliations = , mascot = , sports_free_label = , sports_free = , website = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_upright = , logo_alt = , embedded = , footnotes = National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka ( si, ලංකා අප ස්වාමිදුවගේ ජාතික සෙමනේරිය) is a

situated in Ampitiya,

, Sri Lanka. It was established in 1955 from the

Papal Seminary Papal Seminary, Pune, India, is a Catholic educational institute whose primary function is training priests. Currently, it caters to the formation of about 180 Seminarians from most of the dioceses of India. It trains students from all three ri ...

buildings after the Papal Seminary was transferred from Kandy to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, India. Many priests even from the

Archdiocese of Colombo The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo ( la, Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane) is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives (which are ...

serve here. The National Seminary was entrusted to the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary Congregation of Papal Right, religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a France, French priest born in Aix-en-Provence ...

who were already instructing priests at St. Bernard's Seminary, Colombo. The first academic year of the National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka commenced on 10 September 1955.

Background

In 1890, as per the request of Pope

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

, Monsignor Ladislaus Zaleski started exploring the possibility of a Papal Seminary for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Zaleski took up residence in

, and chose an upland known as Ampitiya, that overlooks the Dumbara Valley. The

was established in 1893. It was one of the first major seminaries to be supported by the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle. Papal seminary Kandy Francis Sint Xavier´s chapel

Papal seminary Kandy Francis Sint Xavier´s chapel

Establishment

After the

was moved to Pune, India, the former buildings became the home to the National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka in 1955. The administration was entrusted to the

who were already instructing priests at St. Bernard's Seminary, Colombo. The first academic year of the National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka commenced on 10 September 1955.

References

{{Reflist

External links

History of National Seminary Sri Lanka
(2017 archive) 1955 establishments in Ceylon Seminaries and theological colleges in Sri Lanka Schools in Kandy