The Beacon wins CPA awards

GREEN BAY, Wisc.  The Beacon won four awards in the annual Catholic Press Asso­ciation’s Best Catholic Newspaper competition for work published in 2017. The awards were presented at the 2018 Catholic Media Conference in Green Bay, Wisc., June 13-15.

Michael Wojcik, news editor, took two third place awards in the competition.

In the category, “Best Reporting on Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life or the Diaconate,” Wojcik was awarded third place for his story, “God is My Co-Pilot,” about the car accident that Father Abuchi Nwosu, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in, Swartswood, was involved in. The judges said, “Whether it was God’s intervention, the crucifix, the prayer card or the air bags, Father Nwosu survived the crash that totaled his car but only bloodied his mouth. The car had rolled and flipped so today the priest is grateful for life and uses his experience to testify of heavenly protection. A well written inspiring piece.”

In the category, “Best Reporting of Social Justice Issues, Wojcik was awarded third place for his story, “The Village Angels of Tanzania.” The story featured the Village Angels of Tanzania, a social outreach of Assumption Parish in Morristown. It told of how the late Msgr. Martin Rauscher, then pastor of Assumption, helped to generate the seed money for the Visiting Angels from his generous parishioners to start the Village Angels and was a founding member of its board of trustees. Some 15 years later, the people of the Ngara District dedicated a newly constructed multi-room, multipurpose building to Msgr. Rauscher.

The judges commented, “Through this story, readers travel to Tanzania to follow the work of a ministry serving the poor and elderly. The story explains the historical context of how the villages in the area welcomed half a million refugees from the Rwandan War and then faced difficult economic conditions after they moved on. It also describes how the classroom and sewing machines provided by the ministry will help villagers educate and support themselves.”

In the category of “Best Editorial on a National/International Issue,” Richard Sokerka, The Beacon’s editor and general managing editor, was awarded two honorable mentions.

In one editorial, “Disasters don’t discriminate; why does FEMA?,” Sokerka challenged the FEMA policy that categorically excluded houses of worship from equal access to disaster-relief grants, calling it “not only discriminatory and unfair, but unconstitutional” after massive flooding hit Houston and its surrounding suburbs in Texas last August. In January, FEMA bowed to pressure and updated its policy to make houses of worship eligible to apply for potential funding through the public assistance grant program to help with certain disaster-related costs.

The second honorable mention award went to Sokerka for his editorial, “Anti-Catholic Bigotry.” In it, he pointed out the anti-Catholic bigotry of Democrats in the Senate during the hearings for Amy Barrett, a respected law professor at the University of Notre Dame, who was nominated by President Trump for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sokerka wrote, “Sen. Diane Feinstein fired the first volley of anti-Catholic bigotry; she was joined in this shameless display by fellow Democrat senators Dick Durbin and Al Franken. All three focused solely on Barrett’s Catholi­cism to determine in their minds whether or not she was fit to be a federal judge. Feinstein asked: ‘Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that — you know, dogma and law are two different things. And I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different. And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.’ ”

“Because she is faithful to the tenets of her Catholic faith, “ Sokerka wrote, “Feinstein dismisses Bennett’s qualifications to serve as a judge. Would Feinstein have even considered asking that same question if the nominee had been a Muslim, Protestant, Evangelical, Hindu or Jew? Feinstein’s question was a clear affront to Article Six of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits a religious test as a requirement for holding office.”

Sokerka wrote: “The type of questioning employed by the senators in a simple hearing for a federal judgeship should be a wake-up call to every Catholic in the United States. Know that it is part of a concerted effort by some governmental officials to disqualify people with strong religious views from the public square. And make no mistake about it: this movement to strike blow after blow at our religious freedoms is growing. Catholics need to let ‘dogma live loudly’ within them and stand up for religious liberty, lest it be taken away from us by the very people elected to serve us and to protect it.”

Barret’s nomination was eventually approved after religious liberty groups spoke out against the senators’ line of questioning based on faith alone.