Catholic communicators awarded for service to Church

A prominent Thai educator and communicator was among several people to receive awards at the recently concluded SIGNIS World Congress in Thailand.

Chainarong Monthienvichienchai (left) with the SIGNIS World Life Achievement Award he received from Augustine Loorthusamy (right), president of SIGNIS

Chainarong Monthienvichienchai, 64, received the SIGNIS World Life Achievement Award on Oct. 21 in Chiang Mai.

The award recognizes SIGNIS members who have made outstanding contributions in the field of Catholic communications.

Chainarong, also the chief organizer of the congress that began on Oct. 18, is executive director of the lay-run St. John’s University in Bangkok and chairman of the board of directors of the Union of Catholic Asian News.

The 64-year-old layman has worked for the Church in Thailand in many areas but particularly in education and media. He has worked in Thai television and the BBC and held prominent positions in international Catholic media bodies.

“I am what I am and what I have been because (of) the grace of God … God sees that I can be his instrument,” Chainarong said in his acceptance speech.

Two other recipients — Georgina Preval Valdes-Miranda from Cuba and Father Lawrence Hannan from Ireland — could not be present and their representatives received the awards on their behalf.

Valdes-Miranda, 87, has been active in media, particularly film, and is credited with building strong communication links between the Church and the public in her country since the 1950s.

Damrong Poottan (left) accepts an award from Bishop George Yod Phimphisan of Udon Thani

Father Hannan, also 87, is a missioner in Fiji, where he was involved in media production, education and training.

At the same ceremony, two SIGNIS Asia Media Awards and a SIGNIS Pacific Award were presented.

The Thai Catholic Church’s mass media awards also took place at the same ceremony. In total there were 10 awards — three for television programs, four for commercials, one for a movie and two achievement awards for prominent media personalities.

The criteria for awarding TV programs and commercials were the promotion of human values, human dignity, unity in the family and peace in society.

Recipients of the achievement awards needed to have promoted human values, human dignity, traditions and ethics. They should also be morally exemplary.

One such awardee was Damrong Poottan, a Thai Muslim who is a prominent producer and anchorman of several TV programs. In his acceptance speech he said that tolerance and religious harmony have existed in many parts of the predominantly Buddhist country for hundreds of years. He said his winning this award from the Catholic Church was proof of this.

The SIGNIS congress for Catholic professionals and academics in audiovisuals, broadcasting and new media opened on Oct. 18. It had the theme “Media for a Culture of Peace — Children’s Rights, Tomorrow’s Promise.”