Columban, Fr Jim Mulroney was the editor of the 'Sunday Examiner’ for 15 years. Published weekly, the 'Examiner' was the English language paper for the Diocese of Hong Kong.
An issue of the Sunday Examiner goes out and in the words of poet, John Kelly, “… the word, released, rooted and roaming now, God knows what streets, hearts, homes...” And it cannot be taken back.
But on January 1 this year, it was not just the paper going out, but myself as the editor as well. After 15 years at the helm of the diocesan newspaper in Hong Kong fresh blood is coming in to fill the position and take up the challenge of putting out Hong Kong’s Catholic News of the Week.
A couple of years on a diocesan education team in Australia led me to believe that one of our biggest mission challenges as a Church is to express our religion in simple, everyday language that can pass the chitchat test on the train.
Once when I was asked to say grace at a wedding reception one person thanked me, saying, “You spoke meaningfully about the presence of God in our lives without mentioning his name once. I thank you for that.”
I believe that is also the challenge of a Catholic newspaper, to tell the story of the religious expression of our lives in word pictures of faith without the technical complexity.
Many years ago, I read some pastoral advice from a rabbi saying, “If there is a funeral on in town, be there; if a circus comes to town, go; if people are gathering, join; if there is a disaster, get there.”
It was good advice for a young priest in a parish and it is good advice for a newspaper as well and even as a small, weekly publication that seeks to provide comment and niche news, there is plenty to choose from as our community is full of fascinating stories of faith from the daily lives of the people.
A newspaper cannot be written from the office, but must reflect life on the streets, which can make weekends and even nights a hectic affair, but reaps a rich reward with first hand human stories and my experience is that most people like being interviewed. I believe it is because journalists listen to them. For some this is a rarity. For the downtrodden, it is dignifying.
As religious people we are called to serve and interpreting and describing the religious dimension of life in the ebb and flow of our secular cities is the service of a Catholic newspaper.
As a high school student, I once went on a class visit to a newspaper office. I admiringly said to a senior journalist who was explaining that writing is a product of hard work, “But you have a gift for putting words together.”
He took off his glasses and said, “It is not a gift son. It is a craft—and a craft well worth your learning.”
While how well learned is a matter for the reader to decide, but the choice of content each week belongs to the editor. At the Sunday Examiner we have adopted the pastoral priorities of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences as our editorial policy: the dialogue with religion; the dialogue with culture and the dialogue with life, often interpreted as poverty.
There are many stories in the big city and why this one and not that one is always a question. I chose because I found them interesting, and I hope others did too!
To those who trusted me with their stories and to those who shared information I say thank you, as I do to our staff for their fidelity and hard work.
To those who think the Sunday Examiner is not as interesting as it used to be, I simply quote a former editor of Punch Magazine, who said in a similar situation, “It never was!”
But to those who have done so much for our paper by following us over the years, I trust you have been enriched.
Columban Fr Jim Mulroney SSC, has been the Editor of Sunday Examiner for 15 years.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
- Read more from The Far East, May 2018
