Salt + Light CEO, Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, accepted the honour June 24th at the Catholic Media Convention Awards Banquet held this year in Pittsburgh.
“It is a great privilege and honor for Salt + Light to receive this award once again, after only eight years of existence,” said Fr. Rosica. “It is one more sign that our work is appreciated and valued throughout the continent and beyond. In accepting the award this evening, I do so in the name of the outstanding, dedicated team of young professionals who are the stars of Salt + Light, and of our donors and benefactors who have made this brilliant instrument of the New Evangelization such a vibrant reality in Canada."
The Gabriel Awards are designed to honor works of excellence in film, network and cable television and radio programs. These include feature films and documentaries, entertainment and news programming, public service announcements, and stations which serve audiences through the positive, creative treatment of concerns to humankind. The single most important criterion of a Gabriel winning film or program is its ability to uplift and nourish the human spirit. A Gabriel-worthy film or program affirms the dignity of human persons; it recognizes and upholds universally-recognized human values such as community, creativity, tolerance, justice, compassion and the dedication to excellence. The awards are sponsored by the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals, based in the United States.
There were other Canadian winners as well. “The buzz in Pittsburgh is the ‘Canadian clean sweep of the Gabriel Awards this year!’" noted Fr. Rosica. “Many have commented on the fact that the CBC will receive six Gabriel awards for particular radio and television programs as well as two certificates of merit."
Salt + Light previously earned the religious television station of the year award in 2008 and 2009.