Fr Jacome Gonsalves rediscovered | Daily News

Fr Jacome Gonsalves rediscovered

A comprehensive study has been accomplished in the publication of A critical study of the works of Fr. Jacome Gonsalves which is the Doctoral Thesis of Rev. Dr Anthony Fernandopulle presented to the University of London. Fr. Jacome Gonsalves is hailed as the Father of Sri Lankan Christian Literature. His contribution to religious literature is commendable.

Fr. Anthony Fernandopulle has highlighted the aspect of indigenization of Christianity in Sri Lanka through the remarkable literary works of Fr. Gonsalves.

He has presented his view in comparison to the missionary methods of the Portuguese missionaries. They have presented Christianity within the frame of European culture and they imposed it on the people living in their colonies.

Contrasting methods were employed by Fr. Gonsalves in his missionary activities. He has been and indigenized person in Sri Lanka. He, as a linguist and a scholar, grasped the native culture in its totality.

He studied vernacular languages with reference to their practical usage. He got the help of Buddhist monks in the Malwatta chapter in Kandy. Under them who had the authority in learning, Fr. Gonsalves has mastered the Sinhala Language, music and the dialect in all its aspects.

This Book contains a comprehensive view of the contribution of Fr. Gonsalves towards the indigenization of Christianity in Sri Lanka and the culture and languages in the island. It has six chapters such as The roots of Christianity in Sri Lanka; The Process of Indigenization; His contribution to the evolution of the Dramatic Tradition; Hymns and songs composed by Fr. Gonsalves; The Evolution of the Sinhala Language in the hands of Fr. Gonsalves; His Literary style and Polemical works.

“A critical study of the works of Fr. Jacome Gonsalves” was launched at St. John Dal Bastone Church, Pelawatte, Thalangama, recently. The book was presented to Most Rev. Dr Maxwell Silva and the Guest Speaker was Prof. Kulathilaka Kumarasinghe, the Chief Editor of the Encyclopedia and Prof. Emeritus at the University of Kelaniya. 


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