By D.C.
RanatungaReading about the departure of the Catholic priest, Most Reverend Father
He was so friendly and always with a broad smile.With his interest in Sinhala films he made it a point to look for Jayawilal Wilegoda who wrote a weekly column on films.
(Wilegoda was quite critical of the productions but irrespective of the earnings to
We could always rely on him to write the article in time.We were quite disturbed when during a carol procession while he was in the church premises a stone hit his eye.
Yet he continued his activities once he received treatment and felt better.Poruthotage Raymond Ernest Alexander Fernando (31 August 1931-16 June 2020) born in Marawila was ordained by Most Reverend
Lucia's Cathedral, Kotahena.The eldest son of Poruthotage Jokinu Fernando, a teacher at the
His keen interest in cinema saw him pioneering the setting up of the
He was one of the few Catholic priests who was quite interested in cinema. "It so happened that at the beginning there were not many priests involved in cinema," he said.
"I had Lester James Peries, Dharmasena Pathiraja and other young, new creators come up and I happened to meet them often in various meetings and seminars," he once said. "I came to know Lester as a parishioner at Dehiwela and made friends in cinema whenever we attended cinema festivals and seminars.
"At the early stages of the film industry, Father Poruthota felt the Sri Lankan productions were very poor, technically and theme-wise, and insisted that more young people should get involved to change the then current trend. Of course, things gradually changed and he was quite happy with the progress.
© Pakistan Press International, source