Bernardin-O'Connor Award For Pro-life
Journalism
At the 2005 Catholic Press Association national
convention, Fr. Frank Pavone, Director of Priests for Life, presented the
Bernardin-O'Connor Award for Pro-life Journalism to three papers for
articles on pro-life issues published last year.
The winners in each category were as follows:
• Best Overall Pro-life Feature for 2004: Awarded to Joe Bollig of
The Leaven (Archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas) for his article:
Stem-Cell Science: Why celebrity endorsements won't change the church's stand on
life.
October 22, 2004 issue.
• Best Human Interest Pro-life story for 2004: Awarded to Christine Dubois of
The Catholic Northwest Progress (Catholic Community of Western Washington
State) for her article: Silent no more.
January 20, 2005 issue.
• Best Feature Analysis of a Pro-life news event for 2004: Awarded to Ed
Langlois of The Catholic Sentinel (Diocese of Baker, Oregon) for his
article:
Medical ethicist offering a new
understanding of dignity at the end of life.
October 22, 2004 issue.
The purpose of this award is to recognize and promote effective journalistic
coverage of issues related to the sanctity of human life. Named after Joseph
Cardinal Bernardin and John Cardinal O'Connor, the award is meant to highlight
the fact that the Church embraces a
consistent ethic of life, and that
there is no basis for a dichotomy between "social justice" issues and "right to
life" issues. There can be no social justice if the right to life itself is not
secured, and there can be no effective safeguarding of the right to life if the
human person is not treated with dignity at every stage of development and in
every circumstance.
"The fundamental human right is the right to life--from the moment of
conception until death. It is the source of all other rights... --Joseph Cardinal Bernardin,
The Consistent Ethic of Life and Health Care Systems, Foster McGaw Triennial
Conference, Loyola University of Chicago, May 8, 1985
"Those who would seem to suggest... that the "consistent ethic of life"
approach so well articulated by my good and valued friend, Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago, differs in what it has to say about abortion
from what some others of us are saying, including myself, simply do not
understand Cardinal Bernardin, or me, or our mutual unconditional commitment to
the life of the unborn and to life at every stage of its existence"--Archbishop John J. O'Connor,
Human Lives, Human Rights, October 15, 1984.
Articles are being accepted for next year's award. Please send submissions
to: Bernardin-O'Connor Award, Priests for Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY
10314, Fax: (718) 980-6944, Email:
Publications@priestsforlife.org
