By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: A New Delhi-based institute headed by a Catholic priest to promote studies in harmony and peace has won a UN award.
The Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies (IHPS) has been selected for the third prize in the King Abdullah II World Interfaith Harmony Week 2021.
The first has gone to Wellington Interfaith Council of New Zealand and the second to The Religion and Politics Forum, Tokyo, Japan.
The prizes are set up by the United Nations and are sponsored by King Abdullah II of Jordan. The third prize comprises a certificate, a medal and US$1,000.
“We are pleased to announce that your event, Celebrating World Interfaith Harmony Week 2021, has been selected as Third Prize for the King Abdullah II UN WIHW 2021 Prize. Many congratulations! It is a wonderful effort,” says a message from the organizers that IHPS director Father M D Thomas received on March 28.
Father Thomas, a member of the Missionary Society of St Thomas, says the prize has come as a surprise to him because IHPS did not intend to participate in the scheme by organizing any event because of the constraints of the pandemic times.
“What have been considered worth the third prize were a few interfaith initiatives of the institute were sent to the awarding organization, while the other two organizations were selected for the group activities they organized,” Father Thomas told Matters India.
The prizes were processed from 133 applications from more than 1,020 events held across the globe. Father Thomas said his institute envisaged different ways of celebrating the ‘World Interfaith Harmony Week 2021,’ in line with the United Nations declarations.
The engagements were intended for promoting awareness among the public about the need of interfaith harmony and social wellbeing as well as of the core values of all traditions of faith, ideology and culture. The programs included video messages (on 4 portals), articles (blog and 3 websites) and lectures on connected themes (4 webinars).
The seven-member jury selected the prizes based on “excellence of the efforts, consistent efforts over the years, collaborative spirit, overall impact of the events, consistence with the text of the UN resolution establishing the prize and the spirit of celebrating the world interfaith harmony week.”
World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2010, by King Abdullah II of Jordan. On October 20 that year, the proposal was unanimously adopted by the UN and since then the first week of February has been celebrated as the United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week.
Father Thomas has been on the UN mission for the past four decades, in diverse ways.
With a doctorate in Hindi and studies in Indian classical music, Father Thomas is considered an expert of religions, cross-cultural perspectives, cross-scriptural values, interfaith relations.
Father Thomas has authored three books in Hindu and one in English on multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural aspects.
He has worked as the national director of Commission for Religious Harmony of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and as editor of the journal ‘Fellowship’ for nine years. Earlier, he worked in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, as director of Institute of Religion and Culture for five years.
Congratulations to my colleague Rev Fr Dr M D Thomas. Indeed it’s a huge recognition for his consistent mission on peace n harmony. The Dialogue commission in Kolkata hosted two Panel discussion on Role of Religion amidst growing communalism n Fundamentalism on Jan 7-8. He gave d key note address. Indeed the Interfaith group of Kolkata are very proud of Dr M D Thomas. May his mission unite people of all faith n cultures.
Warm congratulations to M.D. Thomas.