Appreciation

Rev. Fr. Michael Catalano S. J.

The Apostle Of The Slums

The death of Rev. Fr. Michael Catalano S.J. on December 14, 2009 in Italy, after a long illness was sad news.

Fr. Catalano as we used to call him, with so much of love and affection, was the apostle of the slums. Moving around Colombo South suburbs he saw for himself the cluster of shanties along the canal banks in the Vihara Lane area, where men, women, children and elders lived in utter poverty amidst, murder, vice, violence and all types of crime. The state of people in these structures which crushed the dignity of the human person, moved and inspired him to reject and change what he could. So the question as G.K. Chesterton once said,  is how to be sufficiently dissatisfied with the situation in order to change it, how to be sufficiently satisfied to think that it can be changed and be motivated to change — that is, how to reject something and create something at the same time. It is only out of something existing that we can create something better. The wisdom is how to carry it through. The Divine Spirit blew into greatness Fr. Catalano’s vision and dream.

His dream was enjoined to the mystery of God’s love for the world. He believed People should see each other as reflecting God’s image. He saw with the eyes of Christ that the largest field of charity outside the Church was the social field and unhesitatingly took the plunge into its depths.

Let’s bring, he said, a little sunshine and splendour into the lives of the poor, dreaming, feeding, healing, soothing, caressing them ….

Thus began the Shanthi Community Animation Movement, a multi religious organisation in 1977 of which I was one of the volunteers. The growth of “Shanthi” like the Biblical mustard seed began spreading over to 12 centers.

I believe the gift of Shanthi and its beautiful romance with the lives of the poor is the legacy passed on by the Jesuit Society for continuity and a more profuse growth.

Goodbye Dear Fr. Catalano.

Malcolm A. Pereira
Dehiwala