Kerala priest awarded India-Lithuania Friendship Award
Prasad Joseph Theruvath, a member of the Order of Carmelites Discalced (OCD), has been conferred the India-Lithuania Friendship Award in Rusne. The traditional award “For services to the friendship between India and Lithuania” was presented on Saturday in Rusne, Šilutė district, said a communication in Kochi.
Fr. Theruvath, 55, hails from Kollam and the award is in recognition of his long-term work in fostering the memory of Lithuanian bishop Mikalojus Shostaks, who lived in the 18th century and worked for 34 years in South India, where he died.
The communication said the Mayor of Šilutė district Vytautas Laurinaitis, Indian Ambassador to Lithuania Devesh Uttam, Japanese Ambassador Ozaki Tetsu, French Ambassador Alix Victoria Everard, Lithuanian Ambassador to India Diana Mickevičienė, chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish (Lithuanian) community Faina Kukliansky, professor Alfredas Bumblauskas and other dignitaries congratulated the laureate. The award “For services to the friendship between India and Lithuania” has been awarded in Rusne since 2019.
Father Theruvath belongs to the Manjummel province of the OCD in Kerala, where M. Shostak, a native of Vilnius, better known in India as Bishop Florence, is still highly respected. Father Theruvath completed his education abroad, obtained a doctorate in philosophy in Germany and is currently teaching philosophy to students of the Kerala Priests’ Seminary. He speaks seven languages and is the author of numerous academic articles.
It was due to Father Theruvath’s efforts that in 2016 the Lithuanian Embassy in India unveiled a commemorative plaque dedicated to Bishop Florence. A white marble slab with a Latin inscription rests in the fine neo-Gothic cathedral of Verapol, near Kochi.
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