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E-mail stirs dispute over new Trinity Chaplain

Parents, old boys raise issue at stormy PTA meeting

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi

The recent appointment of a new Chaplain to a prestigious school in the hills, Trinity College in Kandy, has set off a major controversy among parents, old boys and the authorities.

At a stormy Parent Teacher Association (PTA) annual general meeting yesterday in the school hall, a parent who is also an old boy, Lionel Munaweera, raised the issue of the Chaplain’s appointment and referred to an e-mail allegedly circulated by an old boy, containing serious allegations of past misconduct on the Chaplain’s part.

“I need to know from the Principal whether he has investigated the matter and found the allegations to be true or false. If it is true there is action that needs to be taken. If it is false we need to clear the name of the person concerned,” he said. Trinity Principal Rod Gilbert parried the questions, The Sunday Times understands, by reading out a letter he had sent to such queries (see box). Mr. Gilbert also was reported to have said that an article was appearing (today) in The Sunday Times, but he didn’t know what the wording of the article would be. He said he was sorry that there were certain old boys feeding information to The Sunday Times. Old boys and parents had stressed the importance of their need to know whether the Principal had addressed the issue, to which Mr. Gilbert’s response had been that he had read the letter and that was all he had to say. Another parent had proposed that a resolution be passed empowering the school’s Executive (the Principal) to take legal action against anyone publishing articles defamatory of Trinity and those providing such information. There were contradictory reports about the resultant vote by a show of hands which some called “flawed”.

The Trinity College Chaplain is appointed by the Bishop of Kurunegala, Rt. Rev. Kumara Illangasinghe in his capacity as Chairman, Board of Governors of the school.

The Sunday Times learns that the new Chaplain is a close relative of the Bishop, through marriage. The Chaplain’s duties usually entail all spiritual activity within the school including the chapel and also teaching of Christianity as a subject.

The controversy over the recent appointment had erupted after a widely circulated e-mail made allegations of improper conduct against the Chaplain.

“Yes, I tabled the allegations regarding the Chaplain in the widely-circulated e-mail, for discussion at the 38th Executive Committee Meeting of the PTA on May 19 held at the Asgiriya international stadium,” said Mr. Munaweera, who also raised the matter at the AGM yesterday, when contacted by The Sunday Times.

At that meeting the Principal observed that he had received a copy of the e-mail, he had sent it to the author requesting him to substantiate his allegations with evidence and was awaiting a reply prior to deciding how he would address the matter, said Mr. Munaweera, adding that he urged the Principal to investigate the matter and either accept or deny the contents.

Mr. Munaweera said he had also brought up the allegations at the Grade 2 class meeting of parents last Tuesday, May 23.

Principal declines comment, forwards document

Declining to comment on the issue, Trinity College Principal Rod Gilbert only forwarded to The Sunday Times an e-mail he had sent to all those who had written to him regarding the e-mail from England.

Here are excerpts: “My policy is two fold – 1) I need specifics and I need to be put in touch with specific people who have knowledge of the accusations. I take very seriously every and any allegation of this kind, but it must be specified so that truth can ‘out’. 2) Any information of this sort needs to be dealt with confidentially. An e-mail that is gratuitously splattered all over the world like this does far more harm than good. “The accusations are of an extremely sensitive nature and the ‘victims’ and the ‘perpetrators’ need to be sure that any investigation will be done totally confidentially. Without such confidentiality, there will be only wild allegations, from one side and blatant lies, from the other. Neither of that will benefit anyone. Any enquiry needs to substantiate truth and result in actions that are just, and actions that protect further victims, and also actions that go some way towards healing the wounds of those already damaged.”

Bishop Illangasinghe said that no such allegations had been brought to his notice. Regarding the removal of the Chaplain in the 90s the Bishop said when he himself was the Principal of the Theological College of Lanka at Pilimatalawa and was made Bishop of Kurunegala, the diocese had to fill the vacancy at the college faculty.

“Considering the fact that the Kurunegala diocese has only about 30 working clergymen and a qualified clergyman was needed to fill the lecturer’s post, the choice was the Trinity Chaplain, though he had served only a short term at the school,” he explained.

Yesterday, when The Sunday Times telephoned the Principal, Mr. Gilbert was uncooperative, and did not help clear the air. The only comment he made was to advise us to be "very, very careful about what we write ", and that a resolution had been passed.

Meanwhile, attempts by The Sunday Times to contact the Chaplain failed. Repeated efforts to reach him were met with a standard reply that he was away in Matale, and could not be contacted.

 

 
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