She reported on the pontificates of 5 popes, participated in 100 of John Paul II’s foreign trips, and is the recipient of many awards and author of numerous publications, specially dedicated to John Paul II. The Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki Crastich received an honorary doctorate from the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. The ceremony took place at the St. John Paul II Shrine in Krakow, on January 11.
Valentina Alazraki Crastich was commended for her “way of practicing the profession of a journalist, which she treats as her life, social and ecclesial mission,” and “many years of exemplary and reliable reporting on events in the life of the Church,” as well as “the unprecedented and model way of showing the person, the magisterium and the exercise of the office of the Bishop of Rome by St. John Paul II.”
The title of an honorary doctorate Crastich was granted to Valentina Alazraki by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. Rev. Prof. Michal Drozdz delivered the laudation in honor of the laureate: “Valentina Alazraki Crastich is a person who treats her work as a journalistic mission in the spirit of truth and honesty, fulfilling it as a service to God, the Church and people.”
Valentina Alazraki Crastich’s commitment to spreading the message of John Paul II was particularly emphasized: “You teach us that the rich legacy of St. John Paul II is not a mere trace or some relic of the past, but has great potential to shape the future of our generation and new generations, to whom we want to pass on the life-giving source of his thought for finding the foundations of true human happiness. Your testimony refreshes in us the great call of John Paul II, which he left us as a spiritual testament for the third millennium: +do not be afraid+.”
The pontificate of John Paul II marked the life of Valentina Alazraki Crastich in a special way: “What is undeniable is that John Paul II is alive. He lives on in the history of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, of which he was the undisputed hero; in our memory, in the hearts of those who knew him; in the faith of people on whose lives he had an extraordinary impact, as is the case with me. Today I thank God once again for allowing me to live an exceptional and unique experience at the side of this extraordinary man,” concluded the awardee.
Valentina Alazraki Crastich was born on February 19, 1955, in Mexico. During the last years of Paul VI’s pontificate, she began working as a journalist in Rome, as a correspondent for the Noticieros Televisa television network. Since 2005, she has also been a correspondent for Vatican Radio. Among other things, she has reported on events related to Pope Paul VI, and to the next four popes. Valentina Alazraki Crastich is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the 1981 Adelaide Ristori Award for Woman of the Year, the 1992 Calabria Award for Best Correspondent, the Noticieros Televisa Award for her interview with Pope Francis, and the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX, bestowed by Pope Francis in 2013.
