Catholic News celebrated its 113 th anniversary on May 6. As a show of appreciation to the many who sell and distribute Catholic News in the parishes a special Mass was held on the evening of Friday, July 1, at Fatima RC church for all the stakeholders of the Catholic News .

Associate Editor, Fr Martin Sirju, was the celebrant. Archbishop Edward Gilbert was unable to attend but sent a letter which was read at the proceedings after the Mass.

Fr Martin Sirju, Richard Young and June Johnston at sign of peace.

Parishes nationwide were well represented at the liturgy. Malcolm Joseph of Diego Martin did the readings. The Prayers of the faithful were led by representatives from Rio Claro , Arima, El Socorro, Diego Martin, and Living Water Community. Representatives from Arouca, San Fernando and Port of Spain took part in the Presentation of the Gifts.

Also participating in the celebration was the host parish, Curepe, as well as Princes Town , Point Fortin, Sangre Grande, Mayo, Penal, Paramin, Mount St Benedict, Valencia, San Raphael, Gonzales, Maracas, Tacarigua, and the list goes on.

In his homily, Fr Sirju said we are the local Church rooted in a particular history and we are all expected to live out and proclaim the Gospel in our local context. We at Catholic News are in the business of proclaiming “good news” but – he put it bluntly – “We can produce as many Catholic News as we want, if you are not there to sell it in your parish we will buss…”

He said everyone present is a valuable part in building the local Church and proclaiming the Gospel. Fr Martin urged us to look beyond the title of the office one holds and see the value of the service each person provides.

He challenged each person to “be astute in the ways of the world”, and find ways to get the paper out and spread the word because Catholic News does not belong to the editor or the staff, it belongs to the whole archdiocese. Most importantly, he thanked everyone for their generous service in distributing the archdiocesan newspaper.

"Stakeholders" of Catholic News pray the Our Father at the Mass.

At the end of the Mass Fr Sirju invited everyone to the church hall for refreshments, some music and mingling. The Mass ended with the Fatima parish Sunday choir singing Mould Us Lord .

The congregation then moved to the hall and when everyone was comfortably seated with their food and drink, Fr Sirju took the microphone again. He shifted his role from chief celebrant to emcee as he introduced the Chairman of the Board of Printing Services Ltd, Richard Young.

Mr Young read the Archbishop's message to the audience and then added a few words of his own. He echoed the sentiments of Fr Sirju, thanking everyone for their ministry of distributing the paper voluntarily, “out of the goodness of your heart”.

Being a businessman himself he said most newspapers spend a lot on distribution, but Catholic News is able to get the paper out to the whole nation without the financial strain. “It really speaks to the power of people giving their services freely,” he said.

He made special mention of Mr Lalla, who, along with his wife and daughter, ensures the local and regional distribution of the newspaper takes place smoothly every week. He also acknowledged Tara Allum, the “legal mind” on the Board, and the Catholic News staff.

Editor of the paper, June Johnston then spoke words of gratitude because, as she put it, “this is a day to say thank you.” She said all the hard work that goes into producing the Catholic News would be for nothing without the service of all the distributors. She then asked to have the pleasure of presenting the Catholic News staff, which she did with much fun and laughter.

Lennox Lalla, Catholic News distributor for many years, and Lucille Nathu, business manager, at the reception.

Business Manager, Lucille Nathu, continued the fun as she did a sort of roll call of all the parish “posses” attending. She acknowledged Michael Clarke who also helps greatly with the distribution every week.

She spoke with great admiration about the team from Santa Rosa parish, Arima who “performed the miracle” and now facilitate the leading sales of the paper in the archdiocese with about 1500 sales weekly.

In his message for this Mass of Appreciation Archbishop Gilbert wrote “I want everyone to understand and appreciate that each of you is involved in a very significant ministry for the Church.”

He encouraged all to continue efforts to increase the circulation of the Catholic News, pointing out that it is distributed throughout the Caribbean and has an online presence that allows it to be read throughout the world.

Catholic News once again wishes to thank all the stakeholders of this newspaper, those who were able to come out to the function and those who could not make it. We appreciate your important service to the archdiocese and your ministry of proclaiming the Good News.

We thank the sellers of Catholic News of all generations, from Margaret Deane who “used to sell Catholic News at Globe corner” to eight year-old Chad Marin who sells Catholic News “down the islands”. May God bless all of you.