Vatican honors two Bangladeshi Catholics

Former Caritas executive director, late government minister awarded Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice for service to church, society.

Dhaka:  Vatican has conferred prestigious awards on two prominent Bangladeshi Catholics for their outstanding contribution to the church and Bangladesh society.

Benedict Alo D'Rozario, former executive director of the church's social service agency, Caritas Bangladesh, and late Catholic politician and parliamentarian Promod Mankin were awarded the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice," also known as 'Cross of Honor' on Aug. 19.

The award is the highest honor the pope can give to Catholics for services to the church and society.

D'Rozario and Mankin are the first laypeople from Bangladesh to receive the award.

Archbishop Georger Kocherry, apostolic nuncio to Bangladesh presented the awards to D'Rozario and Mamata Areng, Mankin's wife at the Catholic Bishops Conference of Bangladesh secretariat in Dhaka.

All eight Bangladeshi Catholic bishops and about 60 representatives of the Catholic community attended the ceremony.

D'Rozario began working for Caritas in 1987 and retired on June 23 this year after serving as executive director for 11 years.

He has also served as a board member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Caritas Internationalis, Notre Dame University, Bangladesh and country's only Catholic news weekly Pratibeshi (Neighbor).

Despite Christians being a small minority, representing less than half a percent of Muslim-majority Bangladesh's 160 million people, Caritas has made great strides in the development of poor and marginalized communities since independence in 1971.

Currently, eight Caritas regional offices help 2 million families directly with 95 projects that include education, vocational training, livelihood, water, sanitation, health and climate change adaptation programs.

Mankin began his professional life as a teacher in a church-run school. He later pursued a career in law and development activities. He worked as regional director for Caritas in Mymensingh from 1987-1990.

In 1991, he was elected as a parliamentarian for the center-left Awami League party, and served as Minister for Cultural Affairs from 2009-2012 and Minister for Social Welfare from 2012 until his death on May 11 of this year.

He also helped set up the Tribal Welfare Association, a tribal rights and social organization in the 1990s and had led Bangladesh Christian Association, the country's largest Christian rights forum as president since 2003.

Mankin played an outstanding role in fighting for the rights of Christian and indigenous communities and was lauded for his efforts in promoting harmony among Christian denominations in Bangladesh.

Source: UCAN