The Night of the Awards

ON THE NIGHT of June 23 a prestigious Award was handed over to the winners of the 5th edition of Saint Anthony's International Awards. It was a spiritually rewarding encounter for those who had the good luck to participate; an evening which allowed the audience an inside look into the spiritual life of the winners.

First of its kind

The square facing the Basilica of Saint Anthony was especially prepared to host the open-air ceremony; the first experiment of this kind in the history of the Awards. Throughout the warm, pleasant evening Fr. Mario Conte, chief organiser of the Awards, and editor of the English international version of the Messenger of Saint Anthony, acted as general host. He was aided by a professional television presenter, Mike Bongiorno, a legendary figure in Italian television who brought much light-hearted humour to the celebration.
As a counterbalance, the lyrics of the beautiful Luisa Corna, an emerging singer, gave a magical tone to the various moments by singing from a repertoire of classics such as John Lennon's Imagine and from songs in her own CD Acqua Futura.
The meeting was presided over by Fr. Enzo Poiana, Rector of the Basilica, Fr. Agostino Gardin, the Publishing Director of the Messenger of Saint Anthony, the mayor of Padua, Flavio Zanonato, and by other notables of the city of Padua and its university.
The Awards are the brainchild of Fr. Mario Conte, and aim to give visibility and encouragement to those who, in their various spheres of activity, wish to promote goodness in the world by thought, word or deed either through tangible acts of charity or by working through the press, the television or the film industry. The Awards are therefore subdivided into four distinct categories: Solidarity, Witness, Cinema and Television.

Solidarity

The Solidarity prize was awarded to the Canadian dermatologist Andrew Alexander Simone and his wife Joan Simone. The pair founded the charity organisation Canadian Food for Children, an association which supplies food to poor or starving children in 28 countries. The motivation reads as follows: 'Solidarity is the leitmotiv in the life of Dr. Simone and his wife, Joan. They both made a vow of poverty in 1975 as Secular Franciscans, and together with their 13 children, of which one is adopted, started leading a frugal life. They renounced all superfluous luxuries and have no car, heat their own home with firewood, and do not accumulate any wealth. A subsequent encounter with Mother Teresa of Calcutta proved decisive - it lead them to the path of solidarity with greater conviction and intensity. Her influence also led them to found, in 1986, Canadian Food for Children, an organisation which has thus far saved the lives of thousands of poor children throughout the world.
The philosophy behind Canadian Food for Children is quite simple: love thy neighbour as thyself. The Gospel is simple - it indicates a path of poverty which is, in reality, a sharing that creates solidarity and multiplies love on earth'.
Together with his wife Joan, Dr. Simone received the prize (a fine bronze reproduction of Donatello's famous statue of Saint Anthony in the Basilica) from the hands of Fr. Agostino Gardin. Some moments later, Fr. Paolo Floretta, on behalf of Saint Anthony's Charities, handed him a monetary donation in favour of Canadian Food for Children.

Witness

This Award went to Fr. Bernanrdo Cervellera, a journalist and a missionary of PIME (Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere). Fr. Cervellera also heads AsiaNews, which also operates a web site www.asianews.it, which, since December 3, 2003, is also available in English and in Chinese.
Fr. Crevellera explained the importance of these two languages, 'Being able to offer AsiaNews articles in English allows us to communicate with major English and American news publications, in addition to churches in America and Africa. Above all, it permits us to communicate with the churches in Asia which use English as an international communications tool. In this sense, AsiaNews articles on Asian ecclesial communities allows these very churches to share and know the fate and mission of their sister communities on the continent. Thus, information becomes a means of communion for them'.
Fr. Cervelelra's work, however, also has a missionary motivation, for AsiaNews can now be consulted in Chinese for the benefit of the people in that vast country, 'We are even more enthusiastic about releasing our on-line edition in Chinese. We believe that this commitment is the most free-giving and missionary aspect of our news agency. It is free-giving, not only because it is economically onerous, but because it is nobly dedicated to China and her people'.
The Vice-rector of the University of Padua, Irene Favaretto, handed the Witness Award to Fr. Cervellera with the following motivation, 'If the mission of the Church is that of embracing and reaching out to the whole world with its message of universal salvation, and therefore of peace, justice and respect of human rights, then the work of Fr. Cervellera is a beacon of light and hope in a region with a poor human rights record; it is a light which will further the cause of the People of God in Asia'.

Cinema

One  the stage then came the German film director Marc Rothemund, whose film, Sophie Scholl - The Final Days has shaken conscience of many in Germany and America. The director was accompanied by lead-actress Julia Jentsch, who played  Sophie Scholl.
Marc Rothemund and Julia Jentsch both received this Award because, 'The film recounts the true story of Sophie Scholl and her friends, a group of bold university students during the grim days of the Second World War in Nazi Germany. Their extreme courage in using the power of the word to denounce the horrors of Nazism eventually brought them in front of a tribunals of the infamous SS, which dealt them a death-sentence. Sophie and her friends remained faithful to their Christian ideals right to the end. A communal prayer while embracing each other was their last poignant act before facing the bleak sight of the guillotine.
The film is a faithful reproduction of Sophie's last days, and gives the viewer a sense of the Christian dimension of Sophie's inner life in her fight against Hitler's monstrous immorality'.
The film has obtained the Silver Bears Berlin 2005  for best leading actress and best direction, and has been nominated for the Oscar in the category Best Foreign Film 2005.

Television

When Polish actor Piotr Adamczyk walked on the stage to receive the Television Award, it was as if our late John Paul II had appeared in front of us. 
Piotr Adamczyk is the protagonist of the two-part television series, Karol: A Man Who Became Pope and Karol: The Pope, The Man, directed by Giacomo Battiato. The jury motivated the Award by using the words of Pope Benedict XVI, 'I am grateful to the director and scriptwriter, Giacomo Battiato, and to his collaborators who with wise skill have presented to us anew the most important events in the apostolic ministry of my venerable Predecessor; I address a heartfelt 'thank you' to Piotr Adamczyk, the actor who in playing the lead role brought his face to life, as well as to the other actors; I would like to express sincere appreciation to Pietro Valsecchi, the producer, and to the directors of the production companies, Taodue and Mediaset'.
Piotr Adamczyk, in receiving the Award from the mayor of Padua reminded the audience that the prize was, in fact, for all his fellow actors in the film, and especially for the director, Giacomo Battiato.

A Special Award

Finally, a Special Award was also given to the Paduan film-director Antonello Belluco for the film, Anthony: God's Warrior, with the Spanish Jordi Mollà as lead- actor. The film has recently appeared on Italian cinema screens.
The jury commended Belluco for his original approach in dealing with such a multifaceted saint. Anthony, besides being a man of action, was also a scholar and an intellectual, qualities difficult to portray on the screen.
The jury appreciated how the director was able to highlight both the continuity between, but also the complementary natures of, Saint Francis and Saint Anthony. The first was mainly engaged in acts of pure charity, while the latter was also involved in preaching and in the courageous fight against the plague of usury, thus showing Anthony's relevance to the modern world.
The words of the winners, the music, the film clips and the humour made it a night to remember!