Rev. Carl Wilkens to Receive Dignitas Humana Award

Saint John's School of Theology • Seminary will present its seventh annual Dignitas Humana Award to Rev. Carl Wilkens at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, in the Abbey Church on the campus of Saint John's University. This event is free and open to the public. Wilkens is being honored for his heroic decision to stay behind to help the Rwandan people during 1994 genocide when more than 800,000 Rwandans were murdered. 

“Rev. Carl Wilkens risked his life to stay in Rwanda when virtually all other relief agencies, U.S. government staff and most U.N. troops were pulled out.  His efforts stand out as a remarkable example of how one person can make a difference in a seemingly impossible situation,” said William Cahoy, dean, Saint John’s School of Theology • Seminary. 

The Dignitas Humana Award honors those who strive to advance the human dignity of all persons.  Recipients of the award exemplify the values of service, respect, kindness and compassion.

“Saint John’s is honored to have this opportunity to express our gratitude to Rev. Wilkens for this extraordinary example of commitment to the sacredness of human life,” Cahoy said.

Genocide in Rwanda began the night of April 6, 1994, as forces went door to door, working their way down lists of those to be killed.

In three months of tribal bloodletting, between 800,000 and one million people were killed.  Men, women and children were slaughtered in an orchestrated, pre-planned campaign of genocide not seen since the Jewish Holocaust.

Within days of the start of the massacres, a full-scale evacuation of foreigners began, as foreign missions, the United States and the United Nations ordered their personnel to leave Rwanda.  

One of a meager handful of foreign aid workers who choose to stay and try and help was Rev. Carl Wilkens, then director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rwanda.

“You look at what you think you can do, where you can have an impact, and you go for it,” Wilkens said in a 2003 PBS Frontline interview. “The other areas, you just have to realize you can't do anything about them; otherwise you'll drive yourself nuts. So I would look for areas where I could make a difference. I could spend a lot of time in anger and frustration about why other people weren't making a difference, why other people weren't doing it, but that wasn't going to help anything.”

One of the shining examples of Wilkens’ heroism in Rwanda came when he sought out one of the genocide's leaders and persuaded him to prevent the slaughter of children at a local orphanage.

“I put my hand out and I said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, I'm Carl Wilkens, the director of ADRA,” Wilkens said in the Frontline interview. “He stops and he looks at me, and then he takes my hand and shakes it and said, ‘Yes, I've heard about you and your work. How is it?’  I said, Well, honestly, sir, it's not very good right now. The orphans at Gisimba are surrounded, and I think there's going to be a massacre, if there hasn't been already.   He turns around, talks to some of his aides or whatever, [and he turns back to me and] he says, ‘We're aware of the situation and those orphans are going to be safe. I'll see to it.’

“I chose to go home. I chose to trust,” Wilkens continued. “You recognize it's not about you. You're not it. There are bigger things happening again. So I went home and they were safe, and it was just a couple of days later that they were all moved to a safer part of a bad town. It was an incredible reunion as we found all of those orphans moved out.”

Ten years later, Wilkens said one of the biggest lessons he leaned is that people matter.

“It reminds me that one person can make a difference, and it reminds us to look outside of ourselves and to reach outside,” he said. “What can you do to help? I'm thankful that people remember this 10 years later, because there are people in Rwanda who will never forget it, and we need to have a connection. We need to live for each other.”

Wilkens will speak of his experiences at three events in Minnesota Oct. 17-19.

The first event is titled “The Refugee Experience” and will be held at 7 p.m., Oct. 17, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis.

The second is “Living in Purpose,” at the Dignitas Humana Award presentation and lecture.  

The third is “Genocide. Who Really Cares?” scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19, at St. Joseph's Church, 106 N. 7th Avenue, Waite Park.

Affiliated events are sponsored by Saint John’s School of Theology • Seminary in cooperation with The College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University; Catholic Charities, St. Cloud; and Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Saint John’s School of Theology – Seminary gratefully acknowledges the support of M. George and Gloria Allen, whose faithful friendship, generosity and desire to encourage efforts on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised have made the Dignitas Humana Award possible.

Previous Recipients of the Dignitas Humana Award include:

2003 - The Taizé Community of France for their work to bring reconciliation and healing wherever division and suffering exist – in the church and the world.

2002 -  Helen Prejean, CSJ, for her ministry to death-row inmates and their families, the families of victims, and her advocacy of a moratorium on the death penalty.

2001 -  Greg Boyle, SJ, for his tireless work with young gang members in East Los Angeles.

2000 - Jean Vanier, for founding L'Arche Communities, a federation of over 100 communities in 18 countries that welcome adults with intellectual disabilities.

1999 - Marva Collins, for her dedication to education and work to developed the best techniques, materials and resources to reach even the most challenging students.

1998 - Jonathan Kozol, for serving as one of the nation’s most powerful voices in the fight for racial justice and equal opportunity for all of America’s children.