Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - The Indian Church strongly supports the candidacy of Mgr. Thomas Menamparampil, SDB, Archbishop of Guwahati, for the Nobel Peace Prize: "It would be a legitimate recognition for the commitment and dedication carried out for more than 25 years to build peace and harmony " Fr. Joseph Babu Karakombil says to Fides, spokesman for the Epioscopal Conference in India. " Archbishop Menamparampil has been working tirelessly for peace, reconciliation and stability in northeast India for decades, a region marked by continuous territorial conflicts and ethnic clashes. His work is recognized by religious and civic leaders, local, and is known and appreciated all over India and across Asia. Peace and reconciliation in the name of the Gospel, is the mission to which he dedicated his whole life. This is why the Indian Bishops support with conviction his candidature for the Nobel Peace Prize, " explains Fr Karakombil.
The salesian Archbishop is currently President of the Bishops ' Conference in Northeast India, while also chairs the Committee on Education and Culture, in the Episcopal Conference of India. He also works on a continental level and in the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), he leads the Commission for Evangelization. His work is greatly appreciated by all the Bishops of the continent.
The candidacy of Archbishop Menamparampil for the Nobel Peace Prize was launched by the Italian magazine "The Salesian Bulletin", which remarked how the Archbishop, a skilled mediator and great peacemaker, has successfully contributed to the pacification of at least seven ethnic conflicts in the Northeast India: that between the Bodo and Adivasi groups (1996); between Kuki and Paita (1998); between Dimas and Hmar (2003); between Karbi and Kuki (2003); between Karbi and Dimas (2004); between Bodo and Muslim groups in Udalguri (2010); and among Rabhi and Garo (2011). His strategy of mediation, says the Archbishop himself, is only one: "to allow the Word of God to live in the hearts and lives of people and communities that are in conflict. This is how peace flourishes ". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 06/06/2011)
