Mother Teresa Memorial Award
By Fr. Joaquim Fernandes, SDB
(ANS –
Mumbai, India – December 12) – Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian from the Bangalore
Province who was abducted in Aden, Yemen, in March 2016 and released in
September 2017, has been awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial Award 2017 for
Social Justice by the Harmony Foundation. The presentation was made on December
10 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Mumbai (Bombay).
This year’s theme is “Compassion across borders: a
compassionate response to the refugee crisis.” Fr. Tom “has shown dedication
and commitment to a place of great danger,” said Abraham Mathai, president of
the Harmony Foundation, a Mumbai-based organization that has commemorated the
Saint of Calcutta with the award since 2007, as he congratulated Fr. Tom
and presented him with a citation and the memento for his bravery and resilience
in the face of adversity.
Fr. Tom worked in Yemen together with the Missionaries of
Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa. He was kidnapped on March
4, 2016, while inside one of their centers, while four of the sisters and
several of their co-workers were slain in the attack.
Fr. Tom was chosen “for the
inspiring example of compassionate humanity, and for having continued to work
for the elders of the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen, despite having had the
opportunity to leave the country. We praise Fr Tom’s dedication and commitment
for work in a location of great danger, where his colleagues were murdered in
cold blood,” said the foundation in a written statement.
The Harmony Foundation, founded
in 2005 to promote ideas of peace, dialog, and community support without
distinction of religion, caste, gender, or ethnicity, has in the past awarded
the prize to individuals and organizations committed to human rights, such as
the Dalai Lama, Doctors Without Borders, and the young Nobel Peace Prize-winner
Malala Yousafzai. This year the awards were given to Shigeru Ban, UNHCR,
IsroAID, Bayat Foundation, Caritas International, Mercy Corps, and Hellenic
Resource Team along with a few eminent personalities.
Meanwhile, Fr. Tom is still
engaged in official activities in India, and in Kerala, his state of origin. In
each of his scheduled events so far, the Salesian continues to surprise for his
clear and peaceful Christian witness, and for his declared willingness to carry
out God’s plan for his life in the future. He thanked the Harmony Foundation
for having honored him. “Thanks for all your constant prayers. There is
goodness in everyone. It is only through love and forgiveness that we witness
peace, and we need to forgive our enemies. I believe in a living God who has
called me to be a witness to Him,” he said.
“I met Mother Teresa in the year
1983, and I am inspired by her love for God, her humility and simplicity and
very friendly approach to people. Not all of us can do great things, but we can
do great things with love, Mother Teresa said,” Fr. Tom stated.
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