By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, Nov 8, 2021: Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash has won this year’s “Louis Careno Award” for excellence in journalism.
The Indian Catholic Press Association, the national body of Catholic print media persons, on November 8 selected Father Prakash for the annual award in recognition of his bold writings against communalism and fundamentalism gaining ground globally.
The association will confer the award on the 70-year-old Ahmedabad-based Jesuit on December 1 during its 26th National Convention of Christian Journalists,
Father Prakash’s “incisive, thought-provoking writings on various subjects have broken new grounds. His razor-sharp analysis of sociocultural and political issues, especially relating to communalism and fundamentalism, has led to soul-searching debates in the civil society and the secular world,” says a press release signed by the association president Ignatius Gonsalves and secretary Capuchin Father Suresh Mathew.
The press release also notes that the Jesuit activist-writer “minces no words in raising his voice against irrational, biased and unfair policies and decisions of the governments of all times. He also writes on Church-related issues without fear or favor.”
Father Prakash’s writings have appeared in national dailies and several secular magazines, many of which have gone viral on social media. “His no-nonsense approach and extensive quotes make his writings authentic and irrefutable. His fierce attack on rising fascist tendencies in the country has hit where it really matters,” the press release says.
The award, conferred on individuals or institutions, is a joint venture of the Mumbai province of the Salesians and ICPA, which was founded in 1964 by Father John Barrett, an American Jesuit belonging to the Patna province.
Father Prakash says he feels “truly humbled on being conferred” the award. “My gratitude to the ICPA and all concerned. I am certain that there are many others more deserving than me,” he told Matters India.
The Jesuit views the award as a recognition of the many issues which affect the Church and the country, and “as a sign of hope that we all need to do much more NOW for the excluded and exploited everywhere.”
He also says the award “is indeed an honor” and “motivation to be aware that the road ahead is long and hard – but full of promise thanks to our Lord who accompanies us.”
Father Prakash was the founder-director of Prashant (tranquility), an Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace. In January 2016, Prakash shifted his base to Beirut, Lebanon where he worked for three years with the Jesuit Refugee Service.
The priest, a native of Mangaluru, was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, one of the highest French civilian awards, acknowledging his commitment to the defense and the promotion of human rights in India.
He has also been awarded numerous other awards such as the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award presented for Humanitarian Work by the Indian Muslim Council, USA in 2003, the Kabir Puraskar conferred on him by the Indian president for promoting communal harmony and peace in 1995.
He also won the Minorities Rights Award by the National Commission for Minorities in 2006. He was one of the recipients of Mother Teresa Awards for Social Justice in 2013.
The ICPA award is in honor of Father José Luis Carreño (1905-1986), a Spanish Salesian pioneer missionary in India and the Philippines. He founded the premier Indian institution Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur, Vellore, Tamil Nadu. He was a writer, poet, and musician. Salesians’ former Rector Major Father Pascual Chavez Villanueva called him as “the great missionary of India and of the Philippines in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier.”