Every human being on this planet is a unique and unrepeatable gift from God. God does not do copies, He always creates originals. Therefore, every single person has something different and beautiful about him, and is endowed with special talents, qualities and virtues. During our sojourn on earth, we meet many of them. Some of them are very special and dear to us and have a great influence on us.
They occupy a special place in our lives because they have brought differences to our lives. Rev. Fr. Harold Panditharatne is one of those rare personalities who made a lasting impact not only on me, but also on all those who had come into contact with him.
I recall meeting this distinguished brilliant personality for the first time in Kandy, as Rector of the National Seminary, when I joined the seminary for my Major Seminary formation in 1978. Rev. Fr. Harold Panditharatne hailed from Pitipana, one of the staunch Catholic parishes in the northern coastal belt of the Archdiocese of Colombo. Having completed his primary education, he entered St. Aloysius Minor Seminary for his minor Seminary formation. Having shown remarkable capabilities in his studies, the then Archbishop of Colombo sent him to Rome for his higher studies. In Rome he was discovered as a student with an outstanding speculative intellect and was spoken of as being an ‘unusually’ intelligent person. He completed his higher studies in Rome and in London where he secured two doctoral degrees in Philosophy. He served as the Dean of Philosophy in the National Seminary, Kandy and was the Professor of a number of Philosophical subjects including Logic, Epistemology and Modern Philosophy, before he was called upon to take up the Rectorship of the National Seminary in 1974.
He was a true academic and an exceptional intellect and his intellectual background was unique. His ideas flowed from the storehouse of his vast knowledge. While he taught with authority and precision whatever the subjects he undertook to teach, he was precise in his speech and communicated complex ideas with carefully chosen words.
His classes were alive, interesting and enjoyable. Often examples he used in his classes were drawn from the day to day experiences of the common folk. We were amazed by his ability to make even the most complex concepts understandable. Many a student was inspired and intellectually stimulated through his unique style of teaching. He had a phenomenal memory; he began the class exactly from the place where he had stopped in the previous class.
Constant thinking had the effect that made him look pensive and detached, as he was often conducting debates in his own mind, but he was very relaxed and friendly when he was with others. Though some say that great thinkers were often detached and unemotional, he was not so. He had made many friends in Rome, London and Sri Lanka and some of them visited the Seminary quite often to greet him to have a cordial chat with him.
Though Fr. Harold was a Genius in the Academic field, to us who had the privilege of knowing him, he was much more. He was a very simple, humble and noble human being whose academic Philosophical heights and achievements never made inroads into his heart in an unhealthy way. Generosity of spirit, that is so rare to find in our society, was one of the outstanding qualities found in him. He was always a gentleman who never made an unkind remark to anyone. In the lecture hall he was very patient with all who did not match his intellect and was ready to help out those in need. Being in his presence itself had proved inspiring for many. During his seven year stint as the Rector of the National Seminary, he showed his administrative acumen by the way he handled all the issues pertaining to the formation of seminarians. He was a great disciplinarian, a man with integrity, vision, wisdom and punctuality; a man in a class of his own.
Fr. Panditharatne’s life was a genuine and visible example of one who took it seriously to love God with the totality of one’s all being. He employed his mind with the best of intentions of loving God. His conviction was that the Christian intellect was here to serve a Name (God) and not to make one. Unfortunately many Christian Philosophers give the impression that they were far more concerned with their academic achievements than they were pleasing God and loving His people. This is why many Christians are suspicious of the mind today. We have many examples of Christian intellectuals leading an unfaithful Christian way of life. But we were constant witnesses to Fr. Panditharatne’s fidelity and dependence on God during his rectorship in the Seminary. He spent more time at the kneeler in the Chapel than at the desk in his office. As a Man of God, he was fully committed and totally submitted to God in carrying out all his responsibilities and always sought divine will and guidance.
Fr. Panditharatne exemplified the Christian mind as it ought to be. For him loving God and loving truth are deeply connected. It was his conviction that as our mind grew in the knowledge of God, we were liberated to love him more ardently.
We love God with the mind by intellectual honesty. God is a God of truth and we all are invited to be truth seekers. “How could the Church not be interested in the most noble of all human occupations, namely the search for truth” (Fr. George Lemaitre). St. Augustine’s famous line “All truth is God’s truth” was shared by Fr. Panditharatne. Therefore he firmly believed that the goal of Philosophy was search for the truth. This belief was clearly and convincingly imparted to us in his lectures, conferences and in all other encounters. He was convinced that by diligently studying Philosophy and sharing the truth we love God with our mind. Consistently he insisted on loving knowledge and loving wisdom and guarding our minds from collecting ‘garbage’.
So often today Faith and Reason are presented as mortal enemies. But faith and reason are not incompatible and not mutually exclusive. They are complementary and they are partners, mutually reaffirming. Integration of Christian faith and reason is quite possible. This is clearly outlined in the Encyclical letter of St. Pope John Paul Π “Fides et Ratio”. “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human Spirit rises to the contemplation of Truth”.
This was the correct picture that Fr. Panditharatne gave to all his students of Philosophy. He clearly positioned the place of reason by saying that reason did not stand over Scripture at any moment of intellectual study. For him all axioms used in reasoning were not invented by fallible humans, but revealed by the infallible God. Therefore the empty charges that the study of Philosophy means the loss of belief in God was disproved by him.
His education was a synthesis of Philosophy and Theology. Perhaps this powerful combination was what helped him to guide his mind in the correct direction. He was an outstanding example of how to be a Catholic intellectual.
It is with great respect and gratitude I remember Rev. Fr. Harold Panditharatne who left an imprint on me for the rest of my life. I feel blessed and honoured that our paths crossed. He will always hold a special place in my heart. May he continue to live in his new home forever with God whom he loved with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his strength and with all his MIND.
(The writer is a former Rector of the National Seminary in Ampitiya, who served during the period spanning from 2005 to 2011. He has been a lecturer in Philosophical disciplines such as Sociology, Logic and Epistemology and a formator at various capacities such as Moderator, Head of the Department of Philosophy and the Director of the Philosophate, at the National Seminary. At present he serves as the Episcopal Vicar for Priestly Formation and Promotion of Vocations in the archdiocese of Colombo).