The Government of India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry has appointed a Kolkata Catholic priest for the first time as member to the Advisory Panel to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Salesian Fr CM Paul of Don Bosco Monsadah (Indo-Bangladesh Border) has been appointed for a two-year term along with the Mayor and the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, and other eminent citizens to the prestigious board.

“It has been our endeavour to include prominent personalities from various backgrounds in the Advisory Panel. We are in deed fortunate to have an eminent and media- savvy Catholic priest who has been involved with film production and film festivals on our panel,” said director of CBFC Abhay K Srivastava.

Commenting on the appointment, president of the World Catholic Association for Communication (Signis) Augustine Loorthusamy said: “What an honour! Congratulations. You must have done something right. That should be our work - Ad Extra. It will have more impact than only doing things ourselves (Ad-Intra). That is necessary but more so the engagement with the other for whom Christ came for. Your presence and contribution will definitely make a difference.”

“The appointment is something like the Vatican conferring “Monsignor” title on a priest for outstanding pastoral service. Though this is an honorific title it has some duties attached to it,” commented Father Paul emerging from his first certification screening at the Government Place Kolkata (Mahanayak, an Oriya feature film) on 1 February 2007.

CBFC Kolkata is responsible for the certification of films produced in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bengal, Sikkim and the seven states of northeastern India.

Fr Paul was director of the First Mother Teresa International Film Festival held in Kolkata on the occasion of her beatification in 2003. The four-day festival featured 10 films with 16 shows in Light House and New Empire Cinemas for about 16,000 people.

Fr Paul also served two terms as president of the National Catholic Association for Radio, TV and Cinema (Unda/OCIC & Signis). Besides directing, producing and promoting films, he was also director of Nitika Catechetical and Media Centre Kolkata for nine years. Father Paul’s recent films include Lady of Bandel (2006), Manobtratta Jisu (2006), Mary Immaculate (2005) and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (2003).

He was also responsible for the promotion of three films which won awards consecutively at the Niepokalanow (Warsaw) International Film Festival Poland: Mathia (2003), My Karma (2004) and The Cash Book (2005).

Fr Paul holds a master’s degree in Mass Communications from Fordham University New York as well as second master’s degree in Religious Education from the same university. After his editorship at The Herald weekly in Kolkata, he was director of the ANS (International Salesian News Agency) in Rome for three years