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Keeping God in the news

Opinion

It was both humbling and a privilege to be able to share the remarkable story of young Javale Morato this month.

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After extensive TV, radio and newspaper coverage of the hammer throw accident on September 5, there was an eerie silence over ensuing weeks with no news of Javale’s condition forthcoming.

Understandably, the family and medical team were putting all their energy into their son’s survival and gradual recovery from his traumatic brain injury.

After Javale was finally, and miraculously, moved out of intensive care, his mother Teresa agreed to meet me at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. She apologised for keeping me waiting while the doctors changed their son’s trachea to a smaller, more manageable one.

The family had been sleeping at the hospital every night since the accident and were still going through the most horrific ordeal, yet they were happy to take the time to talk to me about their experience.

Teresa and husband Jason were determined to let people know the impact that prayer had on their son’s recovery, and the wonderful support they had received. It was our Catholic community at its best, with the family’s church, school and Filipino networks rallying around them at this critical time.

It’s not the first time The Southern Cross has covered a ‘miracle’ story. Last year we reported on prayers being answered when young Rhyle Abiado suffered life-threatening injuries after being hit by a train. And during COVID we were contacted by the family of Paul Faraguna who was in a 37-day coma after contracting the virus on board the Ruby Princess cruise ship. Paul was dubbed the miracle man by medical staff and the like when he walked out the hospital doors.

These stories highlight the importance of having a medium where people can put a faith lens on their experience, in a way that is not always possible in the secular media.

As Hectorville parishioners, Teresa and Jason were familiar with The Southern Cross, and when they received our request for an interview by hospital chaplain Fr Peter Rozitis, they were grateful to have a chance to affirm their belief in the power of prayer through this publication.

Our Catholic newspaper is not a big player in the media landscape but I like to think it punches above its weight and our stories are frequently picked up at a national level.

(Interestingly, Channel 7 and The Advertiser used part of our story and several photos without crediting The Southern Cross or our photographer Ben Macmahon, which I’m pretty sure contravenes copyright laws.)

The much wider distribution of The Southern Cross through The Advertiser at Easter and Christmas attracts nothing but positive feedback, and strong advertising support. It’s an effective way of spreading the good news of the Church rather than only the negative stuff.

But like all print media, Catholic newspapers face an uncertain future. Recently the highly respected NZ Catholic was published for the last time, in print at least and the Melbourne Archdiocese does not have a hard copy publication. Brisbane’s The Catholic Leader has cut back from weekly to monthly newspaper. And yet Perth and Parramatta dioceses have brought back their print publications after trying the digital-only option.

The digital age has also taken its toll on country newspapers – The Loxton News where I cut my teeth as a journalist no longer exists – and the demise of Messenger newspapers has left a similar vacuum in communication at a suburban level. Facebook groups have emerged in their place but they are a far cry from professionally produced local newspapers.

I like to think that having a print version of our paper encourages people to tell us their stories – more so than if we were only an online publication – and provides a permanent record of the happenings of our Catholic community.

How would we have been able to look back on the pioneering days of Bishop Francis Murphy in Adelaide (story page 21) if we didn’t have archived copies of The Southern Cross or its equivalent?

In 180 years time, will the ‘cloud’ of information that we rely on for our news and information still be accessible? I think not.

But for publications like
The Southern Cross to survive, and continue to keep faith in the news, we need your support, both as readers and as advocates. Talk about our stories to your family and friends, make sure your parish is promoting each edition to the congregation, and give us your ideas and feedback.

It’s the old story, you don’t always know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

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