Indian Catholic Press Association Resolves to Fight Truthophobia

By Felix Anthony, SDB –

New Delhi: The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) resolved to fight truthophobia in the country, during the 25th National Convention of Christian Journalists held at Don Bosco Centre, Okhla, Delhi on Saturday.

No one wants to hear or speak the truth these days, said Mr. Ignatius Gonsalves, the President of the ICPA. “Everyone is afraid of the truth because it demands action, and action involves pain,” he said, addressing a huge gathering of journalists from around the country. Quoting St. John Henry Newman, he said, “In our context of fake news factories making for an interesting career choice, where the truth is presented to be truer than the truth itself, our role as Christian journalists is to be the light in the midst of all the encircling gloom”.

The convention began with the presentation of the copy of the Indian Constitution to all the dignitaries of the inaugural function. “We present the copy of the Indian Constitution, instead of the customary flowers and shawls, to remind ourselves that it is the soul of India and we as journalists, need to protect it from every onslaught,” said the Secretary of the ICPA and the Chief Editor of the Indian Currents, Fr. Suresh Mathew.

Addressing the participants, Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, bemoaned the sorry state of media in the country. “Most of the news channels have become cheerleaders of the ruling party and they have given up the pretense of being custodian of truth. India has dropped to 140 out of 180 countries in World Press Freedom index. The recent physical assault on the journalists in the ongoing protest in northeast Delhi does not augur well for the media in the country,” he said.

The 60-year-old ICPA on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee of National Convention, honoured Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menaparampil with the Luois Careno Award for his excellence in journalism and 25 other journalists from around the country for their courageous and unbiased journalism over the many years. That the awardees included journalists from most of the faith background is noteworthy.

The Convention brought together some of the prominent media personnel to discuss on the theme “Pragmatism Triumphs Over Principles?”. The presence of Bishop Salvadore Lobo, Justice Kurien Joseph, HK Dua, former Chief Editor of the Indian Express and Hindustan Times, TK Rajalakshmi, Senior Deputy Editor, the Frontline, MK Venu, the Founding Editor of The Wire, Rohit Wellington, Senior Editor and Anchor of NDTV, and Fr. Cedrick Prakash, Writer and Human Rights Activists added more value to the panel discussion with their critical analysis of the theme.

The convention concluded with the resolution to request the Government of India to invite Holy Father Pope Francis to India, on the occasion of the Canonization of Bl. Devasahayam, the first Indian layman to be canonized by the Church.