On May 22, 2024, the first “Premio San Giovanni Paolo II” award, established by the Vatican’s John Paul II Foundation, was presented at the Vatican in the Royal Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
The statuette, depicting outstretched hands in reference to Michelangelo’s fresco “The Creation of Adam,” made by Polish sculptor Karolina Koch, was presented to Fr. Leonard Olobo, director of the award-winning center, by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Cardinal Kurt Koch, chairman of the Saint John Paul II Award Council, was asked to present the commemorative Diploma. The laureate also received a financial award of €30,000.
The John Paul II Center was established in 2006 in response to John Paul II’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Ecclesia in Africa.” As many as seven religious orders are involved in the center’s activities, including the Combonians, Jesuits, Mill Hill Missionaries, Missionaries of the Holy Cross (Fr. Olobo belongs to this congregation) and Missionaries of Africa.
The center assists refugees from war-torn countries in that region, running programs dealing with a wide range of issues such as prevention of human trafficking, education, access to water, food and electricity, caring for street children in Kampala and providing legal and medical assistance as well as financial support.
For Rev. Leonard Olobo, the award came as a complete surprise. “We simply did what we thought was right, out of a conviction to promote human dignity,” he said, “but now we have to do more because we have been recognized. The award has given everyone strength and motivation to continue the work that grew out of the inspiration of St. John Paul II.”
Procedures for the award are strictly defined by regulations. The Chapter, consisting of ex officio members and elected members, is responsible for selecting the winner. Each member of the Chapter may propose one or two candidates. The selection process includes a vetting and discussion phase followed by a final decision.
The Chapter selecting the laureate consists of 13 people, including six Poles (Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, Bishop Sławomir Oder, Father Michal Paluch OP, Msgr. Pawel Ptasznik, Prof. Hanna Suchocka). The chairman of the chapter is Cardinal Kurt Koch. Other members include Sister Helen Alford (dean at the faculty of social sciences at the Pontifical Angelicum University and president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences), Prof. Carl Anderson (Order of the Knights of Columbus), Prof. Daniel Arasa (dean of the faculty of institutional social communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross), Prof. Michaela C. Hastetter (holds the chair of pastoral theology and religious education at the ITI Catholic University in Trumau, and teaches at the University of Albert-Ludwig in Freiburg), Prof. Roberto Morozzo della Rocca (associate professor of modern history at Roma Tre University), and Prof. Paul Weston (university lecturer, since 1985 at the Vatican School of Library Science).
