Thazha Thomas
Kochi, September 23, 2023: The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) has honoured Jose Kavi, the Managing Editor of Matters India with the prestigious Life Time Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the Church Media.
The Louis Careno Award for Excellence in Journalism, including a citation, a memento and a cash award were handed over to Jose Kavi in a glittering ceremony on September 23 at the 28th National convention of ICPA at Ashirvhavan, Kochi for “crusading independent journalism in the cause of truth.”
Justice Sunil Thomas of the High Court of Kerala, Bishop Henri D’Souza, the Bishop of Bellary and Ignatius Golnsalves, the president of the ICPA honoured Kavi in the presence of his wife, Rosamma Jose and daughter, Archana Kavi.
Two other outstanding journalists, Sr. Robancy Helen and Joseph Gathia were also awarded with the Catholic Bishop Conference of India Award for best reporting of Dalit issues and Swamy Devenanda Chakkungal award for contribution to Hindi literature subsequently.
The organizers observed that Kavi has played a crucial role in professionalizing church-based news agencies in the past four decades with his genuine mark in both secular journalism and church media.
“Jose Kavi was a role model in Church Media and he has not only given a professional touch to journalism, but also have trained a large number of Christian journalists for the media”, observed Ignatius Gonsalves, the president of ICPA.
“Kavi has played a crucial role in professionalizing church-based news agencies’, observed Bishop Henri D’Souza, the Bishop of Bellary and the ecclesial adviser of Catholic Bishops Conference of India to ICPA.
He said the future of Church media depends on initiating more young journalists and empowering them to the Christian journalism, and “Kavi has always played a role in It”.
Accepting the award, Kavi said it was his wife who stood with him all throughout his journalism career, when even the media publishers in Church circles also saw it as “only a last option for journalists to work for Church media”
“While I deserved my gratitude to several people for my growth as a professional journalist in Christian journalism , it was my wife who advised me to take it as a mission than a job”, he said.
He further added that his first teacher in journalism was Fr. John Barret, the Jesuit priest who founded ICPA and the one who professionally formed him in Christian journalism was Bob Astorino, the founder of UCA News.
Fr.Suresh Mathew, the secretary of the ICPA observed that it was more like a family commitment to the Church media than an individual mission. “Kavi has acknowledged the silent roles played by his wife in his journalism career, which is exemplary”, he said.
The over 200 odd Catholic journalists assembled from all over India and young journalism students gave a standing ovation to Kavi and his wife Rosamma and daughter, Archana as a mark of respect and appreciation.
Kavi entered the Church media as an in-service trainee journalist at the ICPA-run SAR-News (South Asian Religious News), and played his remarkable contributions as the editor of Union of Catholic Asian News for over 20 years.
He founded Matters India, a news portal of great credibility that was launched 11 years ago after his mission with UCA News. Matters India is seen as a window to the Christian world by secular observers.
Chief Justice of Kerala High Court, Sunil Thomas observed while honouring the recipients that freedom of the press is not only guaranteed by the Indian constitution but also enforced by the judiciary.
“As every citizen has a right to speak, the journalists also shared the same right to report the truth without fear”, said Justice Thomas who appreciated Kavi and other awardees for their courage and commitment in professional journalism.