On the shoulders of those who have gone before

The Catholic press lost two longtime members this past summer. John Francis “Jack” Fink died July 17 in Indianapolis on the opening day of the National Eucharistic Congress in that same city. He was 92. Tony Spence, former director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service, died July 28 in Nashville. He was 71. 

Both men were past presidents of the Catholic Media Association; Fink served from 1973-75 and Spence from 1994-96. Both men were winners of the CPA/CMA’s St. Francis de Sales Award -- Fink in 1981 and Spence, nearly 30 years later, in 2010. Both men worked for national Catholic media as well as on the diocesan level -- Fink in Indianapolis and Spence in Nashville -- and both men also were active internationally, with Fink serving as president of the International Federation of Catholic Press Associations, and Spence serving on the board of directors of SIGNIS International and for a five-year term as a consultor to the then-Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Both men even had unexpected departures from their most prominent roles. 

And, at the time of their passing, both Fink and Spence were hailed by colleagues in the Catholic press as mentors and icons of this unique vocation each of us has in the world of Catholic media. Fink also was the author of 17 published religious books and hundreds, if not thousands, of columns, editorials and book reviews. He was praised at his Mass of Christian Burial as an example of effective evangelization. 

Though I had met Spence several times over the years, I did not know him well. And, even with our OSV connection, I never met Fink. But I do have in my filing cabinet inbox a congratulatory note from Spence lauding a 2015 editorial written by the OSV Editorial Board, and, in the same inbox, a thoughtful email from Fink upon my election as CMA president just last year. 

In contemplating those pieces of correspondence, I am reminded that each of us in Catholic media is here because of the leadership, commitment and invitation of those who went before us. We all started somewhere. The first job. The first story. The first design. The first video. The first ad. Someone brought us in. Someone taught us the ropes. Someone encouraged and supported us in our roles, helped us to grow, gave us good opportunities and, even more importantly, good edits.

This means something more in our faith-based association than it would in a secular one. Members of the Catholic Media Association understand and appreciate that the job of communicating the Church is not an end in itself. Rather, we are the body of Christ, standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, united in a common mission of spreading the Gospel to the world. Our calling is a higher one, and our responsibility to encourage future leaders in Catholic communications and Catholic journalism is critical to this mission.

In contemplating those pieces of correspondence, I am reminded that each of us in Catholic media is here because of the leadership, commitment and invitation of those who went before us. We all started somewhere. The first job. The first story. The first design. The first video. The first ad. Someone brought us in. Someone taught us the ropes. Someone encouraged and supported us in our roles, helped us to grow, gave us good opportunities and, even more importantly, good edits.

So, in honor of the memory of Jack Fink and Tony Spence, and all of those who have worked in the Catholic press before us, take a minute today to think of someone in Catholic media who could use a word of encouragement or a message of support. 

Who is the person who is just starting out who might need a warm welcome? Who has gone unnoticed or unappreciated? Who is past due for recognition? Who, even, is the veteran who might be feeling the weight of the years? An email, a text, a high five, a “nice job,” a “thank you” — these things remind us that we are not alone. Joined together in mission, we gratefully stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. And, God willing, the next generation of Catholic media professionals will be able to say the same. 

Gretchen R. Crowe is editor-in-chief of OSV News and president of the Catholic Media Association.