G.U. was excited when he passed his grade five scholarship exams in 2006. As a reward, his school, St. Anthony’s College Katugastota, sent him and other successfuls on a trip to India. But what should have been a joyful childhood memory turned into a nightmare. A Roman Catholic priest-teacher accompanying them, Gregory Fernando, sexually abused G.U. and his friends.
Years before G.U.’s assault, senior clergy had already dealt with an allegation against Fernando. Their response was to temporarily send him to India, and not tell government authorities. After G.U’s assault too, students complained about Fernando, giving the church another chance at redemption. But once again, they didn’t take it.
A long and active Reddit thread with accusations against Fernando first drew The Examiner’s attention to this story. About seven months ago, one Reddit user posted about Fernando’s abuse, prompting half a dozen other users to detail their horrific experiences.
Child abuse is not a new problem in the church. Extensive investigations from Ireland in particular exposed a culture of physical and sexual abuse inside religious schools. Seven years ago, the Catholic church began a global reckoning with how it handles child abuse. In an attempt to curb the problem and prevent cover-ups, the church introduced stricter rules.
The Reddit thread indicated that Sri Lanka might be part of the problem too. Data from the National Child Protection Authority, NCPA, shows persistent complaints of abuse by religious figures. Four hundred and eighty eight complaints of abuse were made against Buddhist monks between 2018 and 2022. In the same period, thirteen complaints were lodged against Catholic priests.
G.U.’s story
Encouraged by his wife and friends, G.U. came forward with his story to The Examiner. Initial Reddit messages turned into a text conversation, and finally, a Zoom call.
“It happened to me. So it can happen to anyone…There must have been so many people, and I would like to do something to help.”
He asked that we only identify him by his initials to protect his family, but he’s ready to testify in court.
“I kept the [flight] tickets and everything,” said G.U. “It was my first plane ride ever.”
G.U.'s school trip to India in 2007 was his very first time abroad.
A few days into the India tour, seventeen students, a few parents, and Fernando made their way to Bangalore. G.U. was sharing a room with two other students. He recalls how at night, Fernando entered the room and lay down, splitting the three boys. Fernando removed his sarong, grabbed G.U’s penis, and took his hand to his own. Another boy was forced to give him a blowjob, said G.U.
The next morning G.U and his friends talked about what happened. “We thought maybe it was natural or maybe a game. We joked about it.” Another student, though, couldn’t joke. G.U. said he cried then, and throughout the trip. Finally, he left the school. G.U. has since lost touch with him.
G.U was sexually abused twice on his trip. When his parents picked him up, he told them what had happened. But they didn’t take it seriously, saying “you’re talking nonsense.” He only realised the gravity of his experience several years later, when he was a teenager.
“In the Sri Lankan school system they never teach you these things. We were clueless.” G.U. and his friends have talked about it since, and although he doesn’t want to keep returning to what happened eighteen years ago, he is angry.
Six weeks ago — four months after The Examiner began investigating this story — Fernando died of a heart attack. We didn’t get the chance to interview him, but we did speak to his superiors and colleagues.
His story is important: it shows how the church mishandled sexual abuse, how its officers were more loyal to church institutions than to the children, and how priests operate in a parallel system of authority, where crimes and punishments are judged by religious authorities rather than the state.
St. Anthony’s, saint of the oppressed
G.U. didn’t complain about Fernando’s abuse, but he believes that others did. And he is right.
Fernando and Titus Rodrigo, the former priest-principal of St. Anthony’s, both belong to the Sylvestro-Benedictine congregation in Ampitiya. It is also where The Examiner met Rodrigo, who had known of the allegations against Fernando when he was St. Anthony's principal, and Fernando worked under him as a teacher.
The two-hour interview took place at the Montefano monastery, the congregation’s main base. The bright peach monastery sits at the top of a hill, covered in greenery. Young men are training to be monks, and there is loud laughter in the background.
Rodrigo shared the inner workings of his congregation and his experiences as a school principal. He also justified his inaction in the face of complaints against Fernando.
