Rev. Cedric Prakash SJ

Fr. Cedric Prakash is a Jesuit priest of the Gujarat Province. He represents the Jesuit calling to social justice. Over more than half a century, he has tirelessly advocated for the marginalized, utilizing his positional authority, writing, teaching, and organizational leadership to promote peace, reconciliation, minority rights, and human dignity.

He directed St. Xavier’s Social Service Society in Ahmedabad, focusing on slum and rural outreach through integrated programs in education, health, livelihood, organization, and environmental care from 1987 to 2001.  In 2001, he founded ‘Prashant’, the Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice & Peace in Ahmedabad.  Under his leadership, ‘Prashant’ became a beacon for advocacy, inter‑religious dialogue, community facilitation, and documentation of rights violations.

Following the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002, Fr. Prakash emerged as an outspoken advocate for the survivors. He is a Trustee of the ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’ and contributed to the Concerned Citizens’ Tribunal report titled Crime Against Humanity. In June 2002, he testified before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C., urging international attention to the plight of victims. He was also engaged with the European Union and the British Foreign Office on minority protection. Later on,  he joined the Jesuit Refugee Service (Middle East & North Africa) as Regional Advocacy & Communications Officer, working with refugees and internally displaced persons across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq with its office in Beirut. He had collaborated with St. Joseph’s University, Beirut, too. 

During the earthquake in Gujarat in 2001,  Fr. Prakash coordinated the Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Service (EARRS). He was also responsible for receiving directly from the US Government and distributing a huge consignment of relief materials to the affected persons. He is a visiting faculty member at Universities such as Marquette University and the Summer Peacebuilding Institute of Eastern Mennonite University. As a writer, he regularly contributes analyses on communalism, fundamentalism, social justice, contextual spirituality, and constitutional democracy to national and international journals.

He has received numerous national and international accolades, such as Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur 2006 from the President of France, Kabir Puraskar,1995,  from the President of India, and many others

Fr. Prakash was born in 1951 in Mumbai, India.  He earned his B.A. in Economics & Political Science from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, in 1972. He joined the Society of Jesus in Gujarat in 1974 and was ordained a priest in 1985.

*Collected from the public domain

*Updated on 12/08/2025