After 18 years at The Record, the last 13 as Editor, Peter Rosengren is leaving to take up the editorship of The Catholic Weekly in Sydney.
From the beginning he took a different approach to the job. Whether it was introducing John Paul II’s Theology of the Body to sell-out WA audiences or breaking developments on the new Personal Ordinariate for former Anglicans around the globe, he introduced a new mentality and style of journalism to the Catholic media, championing a professional standard.
A few years ago he received an email from a priest working under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith congratulating him for one of his characteristically direct editorials.
“That was quite a surprise,” Mr Rosengren admitted. “But after that I thought ‘well, who needs awards?’”
As editor, he sent journalists Jamie O’Brien, Derek Boylen and Mark Reidy on two occasions to China to report on the-then little known work of Macau-based Jesuit Fr Luis Ruiz, throughout the Chinese interior.
Record readers responded by donating tens of thousands of dollars to Fr Ruiz’s work for the poorest of the poor – lepers cast out of their own homes and children suffering from HIV-AIDS.
Undeterred by opposition, his editorial campaign in 2007 played its role in preventing the legalisation of prostitution under then-Attorney General Jim McGinty.
“It was relatively straight-forward,” he said. “Our argument was that no-one has the right to sell women and girls – period. We faced opposition from unusual quarters but we pushed on. It worked.”
In July this year he was presented with an official award by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Australia and Oceania, Bishop Peter Stasiuk CSsR, for his championing of the presence of Eastern Catholics in Australia.
Throughout his tenure he maintained a focus on the lay baptismal vocation, the importance of the family unit and a strong pro-life editorial voice.
“I suppose you could say I’ve worked under three remarkable modern pontificates – it’s been a pleasure and a privilege,” he told The Record. “I’m looking forward to the future.” Sydney’s The Catholic Weekly was established as The Freeman’s Journal in 1850.