ACPA: Australasian Catholic Press Association

Nick was first elected president of the Australasian Catholic Press Association in 1970 and served several terms as president, vice-president or secretary between 1970 and 1986. He was ACPA president when it became a member of the World Council of the International Union of the Catholic Press (UCIP) and was a member of the UCIP council (1984-87).

As ACPA president, Nick hosted two national meetings of religious publications in Melbourne (1972 and 1973). The second of the meetings passed a resolution to form ARPA (Australasian Religious Press
Association). Nick was founding vice-president of ARPA (1974) and has served in a variety of roles on ARPA's council.

When Nick left his position with the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide he edited the Anglican Church Guardian for a brief time. Uniting Church SA invited him to take on the positions of communications officer and editor of New Times in 1990. He still holds these positions. Nick was Ordained to the Permanent Diaconate in September 2009.

Nicholas Kerr has spent most of his working life in religious communications. His formal positions with the Catholic Church have included:

Journalist, then deputy editor, The Southern Cross (1961-76).
Editor, The Southern Cross (1976-86).
Director of Catholic Communications, Archdiocese of Adelaide (1982-87).
SA correspondent and special writer, Catholic Weekly, and writer and book editor, St Pauls Publications (1987-90).

Honours include:

Knighted by Pope John Paul II as a Knight of St Sylvester (1981).
Awarded Gutenberg Award for excellence in religious communications (1996).
Made a life member, Australasian Catholic Press Association (1988).
Became the first Australian honorary member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement for work for the Sudanese community, especially at the World Council of Churches level (1998).

In 1987 he was appointed to the Region of Australia and New Zealand and took up the position of Editor of The Far East.

Between 1992 and 2001 he visited Fiji, Pakistan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan to collect articles and photographs for The Far East.

He was elected a life member of the Australasian Catholic Press Association in 2004.

Education: 1952-1949 ~ Primary-St. Columkille's, Carrickmore; Secondary-C.B.S. Omagh

Ordained: 21.12.60 at St. Columban's College, Navan by Most Rev. Henry Byrne.

Appointments:

Chile

1961: Language study at North American Institute, Santiago. Liveed at San Andres parish - pastoral work until 1967 before being appointed to the pro‑director's council of

Chile

ANZ: 1987 - Appointed editor of the ANZ Far East for 3 years, but did it for 16 years.

1991: Represent the Region at the Columban Justice and Peace Conference in Washington.

1994-97: Regional Council member; 1997-98: Temporary Superior Essendon House.

Dec 97-Jan 98: Visit Pakistan and RP to collect Far East stories and photos.

In the days when ACPA was known as Catholic Press Association and conferences were called conventions our next inductee, Fr Robert “(Bob”) Wilkinson, was a regular participant at these gatherings – in fact Bob wants everyone to know the first CPA convention he attended was 50 years ago this year.

Appointed as Priest-Editor of Adelaide’s ‘Southern Cross’ newspaper, Fr Bob would keep this position for a dozen years, acting, he said, under the prevailing belief that a priest “was expected to be able to do anything, from running a newspaper to administering a large hospital”.

His introduction to Catholic newspapers was an apprenticeship served in Sydney at ‘The Catholic Weekly’ under the editorship of CPA’s first Secretary Jim Kelleher.

A seasoned journalist who was generous with his knowledge, Jim is one of the unsung heroes in our formation. He gave his life to the Church’s communications mission.

For Bob it was time well spent in preparation for editing and managing his own diocesan paper – which, incidentally he always kept in “the black”. Bob also mentored other journalists, including his successor as editor at ‘The Southern Cross”, Mr Nick Kerr.

In the days when long distance phone calls cost a small fortune and there were no emails or faxes to instantly transmit news stories, Fr Bob, in Adelaide, could still take time from his heavy work commitments to guide the fledgling CPA as its President for three terms, 1962-65.

Bob was first elected CPA President at the 1961. In Sydney in 1962, it was Fr Bob who proposed the toast at the Catholic Press Association’s inaugural dinner held in fine style at the Hotel Australia with Cardinal Gilroy as the Guest of Honour. Fr Bob was elected President at the ’63 Hobart Convention and the ’64 Melbourne Convention.

In his Presidential Address at the ‘64 Melbourne convention Fr Bob could look back on the 10 years since the first gathering of Catholic editors in Sydney (1955) and see the organisation it had spawned as vigorous, pointing to “a spectacular increase in publications, (with) content broadening and maturing and high technical proficiency”.

He could also introduce without overstatement what he called “the greatest landmark of Catholic press history – the Decree on the Media of Social Communications, promulgated by the fullest authority of the Church”. The Decree marked out, he said, “as never before, the importance of the Press, and particularly the Catholic Press”.

In retiring from the presidency at the ’65 Adelaide convention, Fr Bob could confidently pass on the baton to Mr Brian Doyle, (Managing Editor of ‘The Catholic Leader’), the CPA’s first lay president.

In this one act we see the larger theme of the laicisation of Catholic journalism that has continued to inform our Association ever since and, indeed, to characterise the Church in the Post-Vatican era.

In this digital news age the writer saw how his congregation’s founder, St John Bosco, first priest-editor of ‘The Salesian Bulletin’ would be ready to meet these restless consumers with a niche publication of Christian spirituality that (quote) “slows things down a little and tells us what’s important and what’s not, especially at a local level”.

I am, of course, talking about Fr Frank Freeman SDB, the Australian Editor of ‘The Salesian Bulletin’. As a Salesian, Fr Frank is part of the tradition of religious publishing that has always been a feature of ACPA’s membership.

As a priest-editor Fr Frank has served the Association in ways that are professional and pastoral. He first became our Treasurer in 1996 – a role he continued in until 2002. This was at a time in the Association’s life when new publications and Associate memberships saw us growing bigger and more diverse as a group. Fr Frank was always someone who would welcome the newcomer into the group.

He has been a celebrant and homilist at our Masses over the years, a conference speaker on at least one occasion, and he was the originator of the handsome trophies for the Bishop Philip Kennedy Memorial Prizes for Newspapers and Magazines. These trophies were produced by Year 12 students at Nagle College where he was for many years the principal.

Past President Penny Edman described Fr Frank’s contributions as ACPA Treasurer in these terms – “As Fr Frank settled into the role he took it upon himself to be the guardian of the membership. This meant that not only was he interested in increasing the monetary figures, he took an active and caring interest in the people behind the membership dues – the editors and later Associate Members.

“In time, he became the association’s grandfather figure and after he relinquished responsibility at Nagle College he took this even further, often visiting country editors while travelling on some mission or another, sometimes going out of his way or making a special trip. He was an emissary of light between us.”

In recent years, Fr Frank been the driving force in tracking down from many diocesan archives and individuals the primary and secondary sources that allowed us to reconstruct the CPA/ACPA archive.

His efforts which have been fundamental in allowing us to order our 54-year-old archive and compile our own history in time for this conference.

Since 1973, Sr Miriam has been the Editor of ‘Echo From Africa and Other Continents’, a monthly periodical which her congregation sends across the world.

Sr Miriam embodies characteristics of the religious press that have always been a feature of our group. Editorship for her is a solo ministry enlivened by deep faith, sharp wit and adaptability within the constant discipline of religious life.

Originally Sr Miriam was ‘Echo’s’ editor-proofreader-layout artist; today she only edits and proofs, while at a remote location, a designer does the desktop layout. She is the first to give thanks to the talents of her designer in making ‘Echo’ reflect the best of contemporary magazine design.

In 2007, ‘Echo’ won Best Magazine in ACPA’s pre-eminent Award, the Bishop Philip Kennedy Memorial Prize.

When Sr Miriam took on ‘Echo’ it was for the edition that originated in the United States and went out to the whole English-speaking world.

Since the 1980s, she has been Editor of the Australia and New Zealand edition, breaking her stewardship only to go to Rome to take charge of the congregation’s General Mission Secretariat for six years where she continued to edit ‘Echo’ for two years before resuming her full-time editorship in 2002.

Sr Miriam recently recalled how in 1973 without any training she was asked to take the job of editor as the actual editor had fallen ill.

“I walked into the office where ‘Echo’ was put together and opened one drawer after another thinking, ‘I wonder how to do this … how to do that …’ and not knowing what to do when a message came from our press in Minnesota saying they were ready for the next issue.

Jump ahead 29 years to 2002, and Sr Miriam is again in the editor’s chair confronted with the revolution in desktop publishing. We may all identify with her challenge in her quote: “Until then I did not know how to even turn on a computer!”

Through all Sr Miriam’s faith and talent have shone through. In a paperless future where everything is done on the Internet she predicts there will yet be a place for the magazine ‘Echo’.

The magazine goes to places where Christ’s witnesses are needed and where, as Sr Miriam points out, “the internet is already being censored by governments to prevent outsiders from knowing what they are doing to their own citizens”.

The Executive also wishes to recognise Pat’s long service to the Catholic and Christian media over five decades. His career in journalism dates back to the late 1950s and the ‘Southland Daily News’. His involvement in Catholic publishing began soon after, eventually leading to a full-time role with ‘Zealandia’ in the 1960s.

Pat later worked for a range of Christian and pro-life publications, including ‘Humanity’ and ‘Disabled NZ’.

He returned to the Catholic publishing fold in 1996, when he was chosen by Auckland’s Bishop Patrick Dunn to edit his new Catholic newspaper, ‘NZ Catholic’ — a successor to ‘Zealandia’.

Pat served as Editor and later Managing Editor of ‘NZ Catholic’ for more than nine years, before a transition into the role of Associate Editor and his eventual retirement in 2008.

Pat’s committed editorship, his willingness to seek news and to use his professional skills to communicate Gospel truths marks him as an exceptional Catholic editor and journalist.

It was ACPA in 1997 and 2002 that recognised Pat’s work as the “gold standard” of our apostolate in twice awarding ‘NZ Catholic’ our highest honour for Catholic newspaper excellence the Bishop Philip Kennedy Memorial Prize.

The ACPA Executive thanks Pat for his efforts for the Association and his commitment to Catholic journalism in New Zealand.

In 1964 from Rome he covered the Second Session of the Vatican Council as a correspondent and his reports were widely syndicated in Catholic newspapers of the day. He returned from Rome in time for the 1964 CPA Conference where he gave his colleagues his informed analysis of Vatican II’s ‘Decree on the Media of Social Communications’.

Michael’s talent as one of the finest writers of his generation was underscored by his winning the CPA’s Fr Murtagh Award for best feature story twice; once in 1964 and again in 1968. In the intervening time, in 1965, he won the first James Kelleher Award for outstanding news reporting.

Michael’s love of Church did not dampened in the years after leaving the priesthood, when he married and became a dad. He was an adviser to the Bishops in organising the 1973 Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne. He is a former Secretary of the Bishops’ Committee for Justice. As a Catholic layman he also returned to his old masthead ‘The Advocate’ (under the editorship of Neville Weereratne) to contribute a popular weekly column.

And to show you that his talents were widely admired beyond the Church, it should be remembered that Michael was the founding director of the Australia Council’s Literature Board, a position he held for ten years, from 1973-83.

At ACPA’s 1996 Sydney Conference Michael was one of the keynote speakers. He has, also on many occasions, officiated as a judge in the ACPA Awards – as recently as this year, I believe. Furthermore he has been a friend, adviser and contributor to the ACPA History Project – sharing his memories of ACPA’s formative years as the Catholic Press Association of Australia and NZ and helping us to bring our story to life for the present

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