(December 6, 2010) Sixty years after establishing their first school in Nepal, the
nation’s Jesuit community is expanding its educational programme across the country.
Bishop Anthony Sharma, apostolic vicar of Nepal, blessed the new four-floor wing
of St. Xavier’s School in central Kathmandu on Friday, the feast of the great missionary
Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier. The $US2 million building is one of the largest of
its size in the nation. After Catholic prayers by the Jesuit bishop, students of
various faiths recited prayers separately invoking Allah, Ram and Buddha. Bishop
Sharma paid tribute to parents, teachers, students and Jesuits whose sacrifices helped
in realizing the initiative. Previously a boys-only school, St Xavier’s started
accepting female students ten years ago. The Jesuit community opened two new schools
targeting poorer students in Nepal’s east in 1999. The schools in Deoniya and Maheshpur
are located fewer than 10 kilometers from the Nepal-India border. The Nepal Jesuits
have also acquired several acres of land on the outskirts of Pokhara town 210 kilometers
west of Kathmandu where they also plan to open new programmes.