History

Catholic publishing in the area extends back well into the 19th century. A short-lived venture began in Goulburn in the 1870s when Bishop Lanigan had a close link with The Goulburn Argus, which published much of Catholic and Irish interest. A monthly periodical, Our Cathedral Chimes began circulation in Goulburn parish in May 1933. It expanded around the diocese in 1946 but folded in 1958.

In the parish of Canberra, Fr Haydon produced a monthly newsletter, The Angelus, in 1923-24, from 1927-1940 and briefly in 1952-53. A similar monthly, The Sanctuary, was circulated in suburban Canberra in the 1960s but it too lapsed. A concerted effort to produce a quality newspaper was initiated in the lead up to the Archdiocesan Synod in 1989 and resulted in the establishment of Catholic Voice. In doing so, the Archdiocese became a pioneer in the highly successful concept of free, wide distribution newspapers.

Since it was launched in 1988 by Archbishop Francis Carroll, Catholic Voice has regularly won major awards for excellence from the Australasian Catholic Press Association as well as the prestigious Gutenberg Award for excellence from the ecumenical Australasian Religious Press Association, under its successive editors Ray Frawley (1988-1994) and Geoff Orchison (1994-2014).

* From Our Story: Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, 2003.