I was recently invited to St Mary’s Cathedral presbytery to talk to the newest priest in Tasmania, for four months, Father Shammi Perera. Fr Shammi discussed with me his remarkable and serendipitous journey to the priesthood and to Tasmania.
Perera, Shammi tells me is a name that was sourced from the Portuguese settlers in his homeland of Sri Lanka, and as you will see we will meet more Perera’s throughout this story. Its interesting to note that the name translates from the Portuguese as ‘pear tree’ and that pear trees were mentioned in The Odyssey when it says “Of these the fruit perishes not nor fails in winter or in summer, but lasts throughout the year.”. It would seem a fortuitous quote that our own Father Perera will be here through all seasons.
Father Shammi explains to me the different cultural environment of Sri Lanka where a Catholic child like himself grew up, living fully in the church saw the priesthood as a very real vocation.
Shammi attended a Catholic school, St Benedict’s College and with mass at school, altar service and being part of the Holy Childhood Society, Catholicism permeated his life and even his leisure time revolved around the church . It may be difficult for young people in Tasmania who have numerous meeting places to understand but in Sri Lanka providing social meeting places, was the job of the church. Even with all the same technological opportunities for social networking as Australia, the church was still the place for young people to go to talk. These factors came together to nourish Shammi’s faith on a daily basis.
He cannot pinpoint one factor that set him on the road to the priesthood but can name a few that paved the way, one being a teacher he admired, a priest who was a humble and simple man named Hyacinth Perera. Shammi says that his first fascination with the church was for a’ childlike’ or facile reason, he and the other children were entranced by the clerical dress of the priests not having seen anything so exquisite before, it was later that Shammi realised the true depth of religion and faith and the challenges faced by priests away from the theatre of clothes and symbols, the major one being the love of God and wanting to do his work.
It may also be a shock to Tasmanian readers to realise Shammi entered the seminary at 13 years old but Shammi’s quick to add after initial instruction and completing school studies a period of ‘discernment’ is given when the postulate can go out and live in the real world while they make their decision to continue on or opt for a different sort of life.
And one could not say that Shammi’s efforts to explore and contemplate were not exhaustive. Shammi is highly educated with completion of degrees in Theology and Philosophy at the seminary, a BSc in Teaching Technology in Manipal, India and a Masters of Linguistics from Kelaniya, a Sri Lankan university. Shammi also worked as a banker, and in a yarn manufacturing firm as a sales executive. Shammi has also been a teacher, teaching secondary school history and geography in an international school and lecturing to uni students in anthropology and philosophy subjects. It is teaching that he misses most, as in Sri Lanka the priests are very much involved in education both in teaching and administration.
Perhaps another factor leading to Shammi’s strengthened desire to be a priest was in part due to his ability to speak Sinhalese and Tamil making him able to work in a refugee camp after being sent to a Tamil village on a Tamil language immersion programme. As a Catholic he was able to be the voice of reconciliation between the two different ethnic groups. In the refugee camp with harsh conditions he saw the strength of the human spirit and in it a reflection of God.
How then did Shammi discover Tasmania? A little serendipity came into play when Dudley Perera, one of his former lecturers at the seminary made contact with him thinking that Shammi was now an ordained priest and being surprised to learn that Shammi was still in his time of discernment. He kind of gave Shammi an ultimatum to make a decision and either enter the priesthood or get married. (Shammi explains due to cultural norms it is rare to see a bachelor in Sri Lanka). It just happened that this Dudley Perera was then working in Bridgewater and so he became the metaphorical bridge that brought Shammi across the water to Tasmania inviting him to continue his discernment in Tasmania.
Shammi found himself arrive in Tasmania in 2011 for the ‘Mass of the Oils’ when all the priests had gathered together. It was an opportunity for Shammi to meet many of them including Fr Brian Nichols the vocation director as well as the Archbishop, Adrian Doyle and the parishioners. This visit made him see the lack of vocations in Tasmania and he believed he was needed here and that all these serendipitous happenings might be a sign from God.
Shammi made his life changing decision and arrived in Tasmania on Oct 18, 2011. He went on to study at Corpus Christi in Melbourne, the seminary that services Tasmania and Melbourne. While there he especially liked the experience of being part of a very multicultural community with Vietnamese, Filipino, Nigerian, Indian and Sri Lankan priests although from vastly different backgrounds the common faith they shared made them the same.
The biggest sadness for Shammi was leaving his family, as bonds of family are very strong and important in Sri Lanka. However Shammi is firm in his decision to bring his mum out for a visit soon and in his wish that just perhaps some of his nephews and nieces might decide to emigrate.
I asked Shammi what his hopes were for the future. He answered he would like to study more, preferably something pertaining to Church or secular history which is an abiding interest with him. You might be surprised to know he has written some plays including a play about his experiences of the refugee camps and as an actor he has performed in ‘Murder in the Cathedral’.
Shammi hopes to encourage more young people to get involved in the church and hopefully eventually encourage more vocations. He believes because our priests and nuns are not so visible and vibrant in our schools any more, young people are missing out on what he experienced as a child, having priests and nuns as role models.
It’s time for our chat to end and Shammi accompanies me outside on a very hot Hobart day. He says weather in Sri Lanka is more humid than hot so he is learning how to acclimatise to his new environment. Like the gift of the pear tree in the twelve days of Christmas Father Shammi will, once he gets accustomed to our weather, grow and flourish for all year long!
