Comments on: Fr. Tissa Balasuriya: A loving and gentle rebel

By: Fr Tissa Balasuriya: Memories and Challenges for today | Ruki Fernando

Fr Tissa Balasuriya: Memories and Challenges for today | Ruki Fernando — Sat, 20 Jan 2018 17:07:48 +0000

[…] Thank you for inviting me to speak today. Even though I had not known or worked closely with Fr Tissa as some others here. I constantly think of and miss two of my mentors in activism. One is Fr. Tissa. And it’s humbling to speak about such a visionary, committed and simple man. Who I called a Loving and Gentle Rebel. […]

By: Rita

Rita — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:04:24 +0000

Thank you, Ruki.

Fr Tissa had sawn the seed for :
“would it not be a valuable contribution for all the ethnic groups, religious groups and political parties to regret our shortcomings and come together to build a common monument for peace and for the victims of this tragedy of over half a century in our country”

Though all seedlings don’t get to maturity in this world, let’s hope this seedling will grow and bear fruit.

We need to water it and fertilise it and protect it.

Fr Tissa’s life should be part of our Peace Education

By: Phil Little

Phil Little — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:23:51 +0000

Many thanks to you for this moving reflection on the influence of Tissa in your life. I had the privilege only once to meet Tissa – when I was an Oblate missionary in a poor area of Lima, Peru we had a visit – perhaps around 1977 or 78 – when Tissa was doing a visit to missions of the Oblate order. He spoke then of the opposition he experienced, even from another Oblate who at the time was the Cardinal of Colombo, because Tissa was organizing the poor tea pickers (mostly women) into unions. His commitment to the poor was not theoretical or academic but came from his solidarity among the poor. Of course that challenged the people in power – both civil and church. We give thanks for the life and witness of this great Oblate.