Pope John Paul II coverage wins awards

The B.C. Catholic has picked up four first-place prizes from the Canadian Church Press, including one for a captivating montage of newspaper front pages reporting the death of Pope John Paul II.

The Canadian Church Press Awards of Merit were handed out May 5 in Winnipeg. The B.C. Catholic earned a total of seven awards, three of them for its coverage of the Pope’s death and the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

The montage of colour images of the Pope took top honours in the Best Colour Photo Spread category for newspapers. It was compiled by page designer and webmaster Paul Marquis, with computer columnist and Notre Dame high school teacher Peter Vogel, and appeared in the April 11, 2005, issue of The B.C. Catholic, the week after the Pope’s death.

The judge said the full-page display was "a novel way to illustrate this story."

The Canadian Church Press is an association of Canada’s Christian media – newspapers, magazines, and newsletters – that works to promote high standards of religious journalism.

Other first-place awards for the Vancouver archdiocesan paper were for:

• Best Newspaper Front Page, for the April 25, 2005, edition showing Pope Benedict XVI being presented to the world, his outstretched hands raised above St. Peter’s Square. Designed by Maureen Littler, the page told the story well, said the judge.
   
• Best Newspaper Editorial, for a March 21 opinion piece, Bringing Jesus out of the Tomb, written by Paul Schratz. The judge said the editorial was "clearly written, passionate and well argued."
   
• Best Black and White Newspaper Photo, for a freelance picture by Marianne Meadahl, who caught an action shot of T-shirted Cheon Doong drummers from St. Andrew Kim Parish.

The newspaper also picked up two second-place awards:

• In the Newspaper Layout and Design category, for an April 11 tribute to Pope John Paul II, which the judge praised for its design and "beautiful wrap-around photographs."
   
• In the General Excellence (Regional Newspapers) category, the judge said the paper has "a good sense of community, enhanced by strong portraiture in the photo treatments." He added that the paper "functions well as a clear and authentic voice of the B.C. archdiocese (with) an authentic interplay between the leadership and the laity."

Reporter Jeff Graham rounded out the prizes, taking a third place in the newspaper colour photo category for his shot of a school principal grimacing as he is shown how to use a defibrillator on a volunteer.