The 2025–2026 academic year inauguration of St. Xavier’s Major Seminary in Colombuthurai, Jaffna, was inaugurated on October 1.
The ceremony, organized under the leadership of Rector Rev. Fr. I.P. Thayaparan.Rt. Rev. Dr. Antonypillai Gnanapragasam, Bishop of Mannar, presided over the inaugural Mass.
Following the Mass, a stage programme was held at the Fr. Joy Chrysostom Auditorium, where certificates were awarded to students who excelled in the previous academic year, and the New Year was officially declared open. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Rev. Fr. Jesuraj Croos, OMI, Lecturer at the seminary, on the topic “Interreligious Dialogue from the Perspective of Wittgenstein’s Philosophy.”
A special felicitation honored Bishop Antonypillai Gnanapragasam. The ceremony was attended by Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin Gnanapragasam, Bishop of Jaffna, priests, religious sisters and brothers, and seminarians, marking the start of a new year of formation and learning.
