Catholic priest bags Marathi literary award
The priest is the second person- the first was British-born 17th-century missionary priest Fr Thomas Stevens- to have translated the Bible into Marathi.
Vasai (UCAN):
Vasai diocesan priest Francis D'Britto was on Monday awarded the Dnyanoba-Tukaram Puraskar for his literary work.
The priest is the first to get the award that was constituted in 2007.
Born to Marathi-speaking parents, D'Britto's work named 'Subodh Bible' has recently been re-printed for the third time, and has sold out.
"I feel very happy about it because I feel this is recognition of Indian secularism, which respects all religions, and gives them equal respect," the priest told DNA newspaper after hearing about the news.
He said the award to his work on the Bible shows that the "government stands by the secular ideals of the Indian constitution. I am happy that I could make some contribution to Marathi literature by getting the Holy Bible to the Marathi reader," he said.
The priest is the second person- the first was British-born 17th-century missionary priest Fr Thomas Stevens- to have translated the Bible into Marathi.
"His work was in poetry form, while mine is in prose. It has 1,800 footnotes to explain various concepts of the Bible for people to understand," said D'Britto.
Father Britto had in 2013 won the state's literary award for best translation. In April 2014, he was honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award.
D'Britto started his work in translation in 1997 and completed it in 2010. The translation work was his effort alone.
