By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, Dec 4, 2024: Jesuit human rights activist Father Cedric Prakash has celebrated his golden jubilee with his close relatives and friends in Mangaluru, southern India.
Only his close relatives and friends participated in the thanksgiving Mass held at Cloistered Carmel chapel in Kankanady and breakfast at Woodlands Hotel.
“In the 50 years as a Jesuit, I could do a bit in promoting social justice and harmony, but a lot more need to be still done,” Father Prakash told Matters India after the thanksgiving Mass at Cloistered Carmel convent chapel in Kankanady on December 3, the feast of St Francis Xavier.
The 73-year-old missionary credited the Carmelite nuns with his vocation and veneration to Jesus.
He said he was happy that he could “sit back in silence for a while” and celebrate the jubilee with the cloistered nuns.
Prakash joined the Gujarat Jesuits in July 1974 and was ordained a priest in Bombay in 1985. He started his social apostolate as the director of St. Xavier’s Social Service Society in Ahmadabad.
It was here, he converted the concept of social work from charity services to a justice-oriented mission. He worked with the slums and the rural areas of Gujarat state through four inter-related approaches of education, health, organization and environment.
In June 2001, he started “Prashant” (transquility), a center for human rights, justice and peace dedicated to developmental, justice and peace of the Gujarat Jesuits.
Father Prakash was among the few to work for communal harmony, justice and peace in the wake of the Hindu-Muslim clashes in Gujarat, starting from February 28, 2002.
His long years of work for communal harmony and peace have won him several awards.
He was conferred the Mother Teresa International Award in 2013. In 1996, he was awarded the Anubhai Chimanlal Nagarika Puraskar by the Mayor of Ahmedabad for his contribution to the city.
1995, he received the Kabir Puraskar Award from the President of India for his work in the promotion of Communal Harmony and Peace.
In 2006, he was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, one of the highest French civilian awards.
He also received the Fr. Parmananda Divarkar Award for Communication for Peace in January 2004 for promoting dialogue for peace and inter-community harmony. In 2006, he received the Minorities Rights Award by the National Commission for Minorities of the Government of India.
In 2021, Father Prakash was conferred the Fr. Louis Careno Award by the Indian Catholic Press Association for his courageous contribution to journalism and bold writings on socio-cultural and political issues.
Father Prakash was born on November 3, 1951, as the youngest of four children of Cynthia Lobo and Conrad Lobo in Mumbai.
His father was an engineer in a sister company of Siemens and his mother taught at St. Joseph’s Convent, Umerkhadi, Mumbai.
Father Prakash received his early education from Antonio D’Souza High School, Mumbai, and completed his Bachelors degree in Economics and Political Science Honors from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai in 1972.
A direct descendant of the well-known Mascarenhas family of Kankanady in Mangalore, Father Prakash recalled his frequent visits to the Cloistered convent chapel as a child.
His great-grandfather, Simon Mascarenhas was a doctor at Fr. Muller’s Hospital in Mangaluru, and his great grand uncle Monsignor Raymond Mascarenhas was the vicar general of the Mangalore diocese. He founded the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, or the Bethany Sisters. He is now a Servant of God, the first in the four-stage canonization process in the Catholic Church.
Prakash’s maternal aunt was Olinda Pereira, the founder of School of Social work, Roshni Nilaya, in Mangalore.
Congratulations to brother Cedric, and even more his form of celebrating his 50th jubilee. Why should we tag jubilees with inert metals like gold and silver?