Two progressive organizations that have often shared a path during their past half-centuries of existence — one a social activist coalition, the other a legal advocacy group that often defends such activists — met again Monday, when the Thomas Merton Center gave its annual award to the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The Thomas Merton Center, named for an activist Roman Catholic monk and writer, was founded in 1972. Its stated mission includes raising “moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, human rights, and environmental justice.”

The center presented its 45th annual Thomas Merton Award to Vincent Warren, executive director of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. The event took place at the annual dinner of the Garfield-based Thomas Merton Center at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square.

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