The eRecord and The Record Magazine have won several awards at the 2023 Australasian Catholic Press Association Awards.
The Awards, which were held at The Westin, in Perth, Thursday 7 September, were presented by ACPA President Neil Helmore and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB.
The eRecord took out Winner of the Best Content – Faith and Life for the interview with Ukrainian Bishop Mykola Bychok, The Record Magazine was awarded Highly Commended for Best Original Artwork featuring Perth Catholics support of Ukraine, The Record Magazine was awarded Highly Commended for Prof Matthew Ogilvie’s article on Cancel Culture, The Record Magazine awarded Highly Commended for Michelle Tan’s interview with Ethiopian Cardinal Souraphiel and his reflections on our land.
Ballajura Parish’s The Crossroads Magazine, published by Parish Priest Fr John Jegorow also took out the winning award for Best Headline.
Archdiocese of Hobart’s The Catholic Standard, in Tasmania was honoured the top award of the Bishop Kennedy Memorial Trophy. The 12-page monthly newspaper, produced by a small team within the Archdiocese of Hobart received the trophy for the Bishop Kennedy Award for Overall Excellence in a Catholic Publication at the ACPA annual awards dinner held on 7 September 2023.
Mr Helmore, from the Diocese of Townsville, congratulated the team at The Catholic Standard for their dedication and commitment, noting the tremendous work they achieve with limited resources.
“As Catholic media, our role is to ensure we announce the good news of our faith, and The Catholic Standard is a prime example of how this important task is fulfilled to the highest quality,” Mr 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,” he said.
The judges’ comments were glowing for the award-winning newspaper, stating, ‘The Catholic Standard eminently reflects the uniqueness and richness of the Catholic community of Australia’s only island state. It is an excellent balance of local, national and international news, commentary and feature stories.’
The Awards Night followed a two-day Conference at Rendezvous Scarborough with more than 50 Catholic media and communications professionals from Diocesan Communications Offices and publications across Australia. The awards, which are held annually, recognise excellence in Catholic media across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
ACBC President and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB celebrated the Conference Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral prior to the Awards Dinner.
This year’s conference theme focused on the words of Pope Francis from his 2023 World Communications Day message: ‘Speaking with the Heart: The Truth in Love‘ (Ephesians 4:15). In that, Pope Francis encourages Catholic media professionals to communication with ‘open heart and arms’. ‘We are all called to seek and to speak the truth and to do so with charity.’
ACBC Communications Director Gavin Abraham, NZ Catholic Editor Michael Otto and Jesuit Priest Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ were awarded Life Memberships.
The 2023 ACPA Conference and Awards were proudly sponsored by Gold Sponsors Caritas Australia, CathNews and Catholic Education Western Australia. Silver Sponsors were Catholic Development Fund (WA), Harvest Journeys, MercyCare, Australian Catholic University, St John of God Health Care, University of Notre Dame Australia and Passione Wine.