The Catholic Weekly has swept the 2024 Australasian Catholic Press Association Awards, taking home six gongs—the most of any publication on the night.
“Sacred Music Renaissance,” our November front-page feature on the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Jubilate Deo programme, won Best Education Content.
Under the leadership of Ronan Reilly, Jubilate Deo teaches school students to sing Gregorian chant at Mass, in keeping with St Paul VI’s vision of a universal chant repertoire following Vatican II.
Senior Journalist Marilyn Rodrigues led the three-page feature, with freshly-minted Junior Journalist George Al-Akiki contributing reporting.
But design flourishes from Mat de Sousa caught the judges’ attention and landed the paper the prize.
Rodrigues also took home two further awards. She won the Best Social Justice category for her March stories about the Donagemma family’s special needs daughter Benedetta, saved from deportation through a last-minute miracle.
She was also highly commended for her feature interview with The Chosen star Elizabeth Tabish, “Role of a lifetime.”
The advertising and production team—Steve Richards, Renate Cassis, Heidi Hariyono and Katie Clarke—won Best Advertising Feature category for the Schools Week 2023 supplement.
Former senior journalist Debbie Cramsie was highly commended in the Faith and Life category for her story on Pat Farmer’s marathon for the Voice to Parliament, “Rosaries on the Run.”
Catholic Weekly photographer Giovanni Portelli was also highly commended for his stunning photo of Our Lady in a sea of candlelight, from the 2023 Fatima procession.
Outgoing Catholic Weekly editor Adam Wesselinoff said he was proud to see the paper’s staff recognised by their peers.
“As Australia’s last weekly Catholic paper, we take our responsibility to the church very seriously,” he said.
“The journalists, designers and staff are dedicated to their jobs and their faith. We’re a small team for a weekly paper, so it’s wonderful to see them get the acknowledgement they deserve.
“I am especially proud of the publication’s breadth. To win awards for everything from Gregorian chant to social justice reporting proves the staff are fulfilling the Weekly’s motto: ‘The church, all of it.’
“The team is grateful for the support of Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP as we seek to fulfil our mission as a paper, and our vocations as journalists.
“We also wish to thank every person who shared their story with us.”
The ACPA awards are given for stories published in the previous calendar year and were conferred at the 2024 Catholic Communications Congress at Rydges North Sydney, on 28 August.
The Bishop Philip Kennedy Memorial Award for best publication was won by The Record, the publication of the Archdiocese of Perth, which this year celebrates its 150th anniversary.
Editor and Communications Manager for the Archdiocese of Perth, Jamie O’Brien, was also this year elected president of ACPA, after having served as treasurer for six years.
Outgoing President Neil Helmore, from the Diocese of Townsville, congratulated O’Brien and his team.
“As professional communicators, we must remain steadfast to the truth, focussing always on developing and delivering the message of the gospel, and The Record has definitely set a positive example of how this important task can be carried out,” Helmore said.
“I congratulate all the winners and runners-up and thank all ACPA members who came together for this special occasion, to learn and grow with each other in faith.”