The Russian Catholic weekly “Svet Evangelia” (Light of the Gospel) has won the Titus Brandsma Award 2004, awarded by the International Catholic Union of the Press (Icup). The prize-giving ceremony will be held during the Icup World Congress, due to be held in Bangkok (Thailand) from 9 to 17 October 2004. In notifying the editor of “Svet Evangelia”, Victor Khroul, and his staff, that the weekly magazine had won the prize, the Icup executive stressed that the members of the jury had taken their decision by taking various factors into account: the praiseworthy efforts made by the magazine to build bridges in Russian society, now liberated from decades of communist dictatorship and state atheism; the promotion of the values of justice and freedom through the medium of the press; the promotion of unity and dialogue between religions and churches for the defence of human dignity through an “exemplary journalism”. The “Tito Brandsma” prize (named after the Blessed of Dutch origin, priest and journalist, killed by the Nazis in a concentration camp during the Second World War) is awarded every three years, coinciding with the ICUP world congress, together with other prizes: a gold medal is also awarded to a journalist or paper that has particularly combated in favour of freedom of opinion; international prizes will also be awarded for photo-journalism, for interreligious dialogue, for the women’s question, for “excellence in journalism”, and for solidarity with refugees. The award of the prize to “Svet Evangelia” will set the seal on ten years’ service of the small Catholic community in Russia after the fall of the Berlin wall.
