The ARCCC Award

 

Each year at our annual conference, we take pride in presenting the ARCCC Award to recognize a special contribution to Christian or religious communications. The purpose of the ARCCC Award is threefold:

 

1. To recognize persons and institutions who have made distinguished contributions to the development of communications in the Catholic and Christian Church in Canada. Some examples:
   
   Recognized excellence in a specific religious communications project (e.g., CBC coverage of Pope John Paul's visit to Canada in 1984); Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace for its educational materials;
   
   A lifetime devoted to advancing Church communications and "mentoring" that inspires a new generation to produce excellence (e.g., Fr. Stone, Bonnie Brennan);
   
   Leadership in breaking new ground in religious communications (e.g., Vision TV);
   
   Modelling excellence in the use of media (e.g., Man Alive)
    

2. To encourage Church use of communications on all media platforms.
    

3. To make ARCCC better known through the awards event; by media releases to winners' constituencies, major dailies, Catholic press and online services, CCN, and other denominational publications.

 

Categories

 

A. Distinguished contribution to national or regional communications in the Christian and (Catholic) Church in Canada.

 

Eligibility: Roman Catholic communicators, projects, organizations. Emphasis on communications by Catholic individuals or groups in Canada. The contribution could be internal (within and for the Church) or external (from the Catholic Church to our pluralistic society).

 

B. Distinguished contribution to religious communications in Canada.

Eligibility: Any other religious communicator, project, or organization. This award was created to recognize excellent contributions by one of the following:

• a Christian denomination other than Catholic

• an ecumenical project

• another faith group. Emphasis on religious communications (usually with a Christian message) in a pluralistic secular society; national focus.

C. Media Arts Production

 

Eligibility: Any Canadian media arts production (film, television, video, radio, print electronic) characterized by excellence, national audience and emphasis on Christian (not simply human) values.

 

The Award

 

The ARCCC award is presented as an engraved trophy. One or more awards may be given in each category each year.

 

Nomination Information

 

Nominations are made by ARCCC members. Nominations must be supported by a description of the particular contribution of the nominee and submitted in writing. All nominations are treated with confidentiality. The award committee's recommendation of recipient(s) will be forwarded to the executive, whose decision is final.

 

Deadline for nominations is March 30 each year. Send your nomination to:

ARCCC Awards
c/o 8 MacDonald Ave
Hamilton, ON
L8P 4N5

Or email us

 

Past Recipients

 

Distinguished Contribution to Communications in the Catholic Church in Canada

Fr. John E. O'Brien, S.J (1982)
Fr. Walter Fitzgerald (1983)
Fr. Frank Stone, CSP (1985)
Dr. Andrew Ruszkowski (1987)
Bonnie Brennan (1988)
Fr. Bob Ogle (1989)
Fr. Pierre Babin, OMI (1989)
Sr. Mary Jo Leddy (1990)
Fr. Barry Jones (1991)
The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (1992)
The Scarboro Foreign Mission Society (1993)
CCN Canadian Catholic News (1993)
Villagers, for Catholic Journal (1994)
Bernard Daly (1995)
Alan Charlton (1997)
Grant Maxwell (1997)
Sr. Stephanie Vincec, C.S.J. (1997)
Fr. Jim Mason, C.Ss.R. (1999)
Our Family Magazine (1999)
The National Catholic Broadcasting Council (2000)
The Mass for Shut-ins (Diocese of Antigonish) (2000)
Natalie MacMaster (2003)
The Publishers of Toronto 2002 (The Catholic Register, Novalis, Corriere Canadese, Correo Canadiense) for their special World Youth Publications by young reporters. (2003)
Fr. Andrew Britz, O.S.B., editor-emeritus, The Prairie Messenger (2004)
The Mass for a Television Community, produced by Msgr. Brad Massman on behalf of the Archdiocese of Toronto (2004)
Ronald Pickersgill, former Director of Communications, Diocese of London (2010)
Fr. Andrew Britz, O.S.B., editor-emeritus, The Prairie Messenger (2012, posthumous)
Bernadette Gasslein, former editor of the pastoral/liturgical magazine Celebrate! (2014)

Neil MacCarthy, Director of Communications, Archdiocese of Toronto (2015)

Joseph Sinasac, Publishing Director, Novalis (2017)

Distinguished Contribution to Religious Communications in Canada

Leo Rampen (1984)

Roy Bonisteel (1989)
Ron Keast (1990)
Michael McAteer (1994)
John Longhurst (2006)

Media Arts Production

The CBC, for coverage of the Papal visit to Canada (1985)
CBC production of "Anne of Green Gables" (1986)
Jeannine Locke, Executive Producer of CBC production, "Island Love Song" (1987)
Hymn Sing, produced by CBC Winnipeg (1991)
"Inside the Vatican,'' produced by John McGreevy (1994)
Tapestry Radio Program (CBC) hosted by Judy Maddren (1999)
The CBC, for coverage of World Youth Day (2003)
Salt+ Light Television for its promotion of young communicators (2007)
Bernie Lucht, executive producer of the CBC Radio program “Ideas” (2013)

Western Catholic Reporter (2015)

Special Award of Honour

Cardinal John Foley, for dedicated and visionary leadership in Catholic communications (2008)