More
than 300 Catholic journalists, editors, directors of communications, producers,
business managers, advertisers, and publishers—plus 3 bishops—converged on
Green Bay, Wisc., aka “Titletown,” June 12-15. (Did you know that the Packers
have won 13 NFL titles? If not, go to Green Bay, and they’ll tell you!)
The
Catholic Media Conference is held annually in different cities in the U.S. or
Canada. This year the Green Bay Diocese was host, proudly showing off a
beautiful little city on the Fox River, home to the only publicly-owned major
league sports franchise (the Packers) and home of the site of the only
Church-approved Marian apparition in
the U.S.
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| In the Packers' Hall of Fame, attendees got to sample Wisconsin beer, brats, and cheese, and were welcomed by Green Bay's mayor and then by Fr. Jim Baraniak (photo), prior of the Norbertines and longtime chaplain of the Packers. |
But
the purpose of CMC is to share best practices, learn about new developments,
network with old and new friends in the media world, recognize outstanding
accomplishments, and deepen one’s faith. These 300+ men and women—95% of them
lay—are firmly convinced of their mission in the Church as evangelizers. As one
speaker said, “We work of J.C.” Another said, “This is a vocation.”
Attendees
could follow any of several tracks at the conference: editorial, business,
communications, design, digital/social media, parish, or general interest. Many
went to whichever session at the given time most interested them, regardless of
track.
 |
Journalists praying in the apparition chapel, built on the site where the Virgin Mary appeared to Adele Brise in 1859.
This chapel is under the Shrine's main chapel, where we celebrated Mass.
|
Jakeline
Magalhaes, province delegate for communications, and your humble blogger represented
the New Rochelle Province. It was a first for Jackie, who enjoyed meeting so
many peers with whom she can share Salesian news and professional ideas. “It was a great opportunity to get to know people and
understand a little better the workings of Catholic media and the Catholic
Church here in United States, besides learning more about relevant themes to
our work with the province,” she commented.
She
and I took care to go to different sessions. I attended “Handling Hot Topics
and Sensitive Subjects,” “The Mystery of the Written Word,” “Sex Trafficking: A
Worldwide Epidemic,” “Communicating the Joy of the Gospel,” and “Pitch Perfect:
How to Sell Your Story, while she attended “Advanced Social Media,” “Three keys
to social media success,” “The New Areopagus: Sharing stories of faith in a
digital world,” and “Engaging the Hispanic population.”
 |
| Dr. Govekar listening to a question from the audience. |
The
keynote address was delivered by Dr. Natasa Govekar, director of the Department
of Pastoral Theology at the Vatican Secretariat for Communication. She
presented the ongoing communications plans of the Holy See, the key themes of
which are discipleship and evangelization.
 |
| Dr. Govekar's keynote was one of several times that we filled the ballroom. |
Dr.
Govekar also took part in the panel “Communicating the Joy of the Gospel” with
Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay and two others.
The
bishops in attendance besides Bishop Ricken were Bishop Robert Morneau, Green
Bay’s retired auxiliary, and Bishop Gerald Kicanas, emeritus of Tucson, Ariz.
Each bishop presided at one of the CMC Masses. Attending priests concelebrated
and deacons assisted.
The
first Mass, Wednesday evening, was celebrated by Bishop Morneau at the National
Shrine of Our Lady of Good Hope, where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1859 to a
Belgian immigrant farmgirl, Adele Brise, and charged her to go around all the
neighboring farms to teach catechism to “the children in this wild country,”
which Adele did until her death in 1896.
Bishop
Kicanas presided at the second Mass, Thursday morning in the convention center,
which, even at 8:30 a.m., drew more participants than the organizers expected,
and some had to sit in the hall outside the prayer room where Mass was
celebrated.
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| Mass at the cathedral. Photo by Jackie Magalhaes. |
The
Friday evening Mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral was the CPA’s annual
memorial Mass for members who died in the preceding 12 months. Bishop Ricken
presided.
Bishop
Morneau, an accomplished spiritual writer and poet, also led the session “The
Mystery of the Written Word.”
 |
Bp. Jerry Kicanas spoke eloquently and passionately
in favor of Catholic journalism and of the disadvantaged people of our society.
|
One
of the Catholic Press Association’s highest awards, the Bishop John England
Award, was given to Bishop Kicanas. The award recognizes Catholic publishers
for the defense of First Amendment rights, such as freedom of the press and
freedom of religion. It is the CPA’s highest award for publishers. The bishop
commended the Catholic media for their work not only in defending precious
freedoms but also in speaking for the voiceless, such as immigrants and
refugees.
The
CPA’s highest award, the St. Francis de Sales Award, went to Julie Asher,
veteran national editor of Catholic News Service in Washington. The award
recognizes journalistic excellence over a sustained period of time, which in Julie’s
case includes not only writing, editing, and overseeing a pile of CNS’s
national activity but also making presentations at journalism conferences and
masterfully overseeing interns working at CNS.
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| Yours truly and Jackie flank our friend Julie Asher and her well-earned St. Francis de Sales Award. Photo courtesy of Jackie Magalhaes. |
At
the end of the CMC, hundreds of awards are given out for the previous year’s
(2017) outstanding work in dozens of areas such as stories, photography,
design, books, best publications, etc. We are happy to say that E-Service, the predecessor of the current
province newsletter, copped four awards: two second places—a photo montage by
three Champaign, Ill., photographers and an article by yours truly; and two
third places—an article by Bro. Rob Malusa and Fr. Tim Zak’s regular column
“Message of the Provincial.”
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