Mary Parlin nominated for award

  

 

Lighting the Way 

Newspaper editor nominated for prestigious award 

Facing some tough competition against the likes of the inspiration for the movie “Father Stu” and a 20-year director for a center for the deaf and hard of hearing, retired Catholic newspaper editor Mary Parlin was more than deserving of the 2022-23 Lumen Christi Award. 

The award — which is Latin for “Light of Christ”— is presented each year by Catholic Extension, a fundraising organization for American Catholics. The award is the highest honor given to anyone who shows the presence of Christ in communities where they serve. 

Parlin, former editor of the West Nebraska Register newspaper and later the West Nebraska Catholic magazine, was nominated for the award by Father Todd Philipsen, pastor at St. Patrick’s in Chadron, and earned $1,000 for the Diocese of Grand Island. She was nominated for her dedication and commitment to the diocese, using her stories to keep people in touch with the Catholic church. 

“Mary has worked diligently, with little fanfare for decades, adapting to the leadership of the diocese as it changed hands several times…” said Father Frank Curran, editor of the West Nebraska Register from 1986 to 1991. “Mary impressed me not only as being competent, but prayerful in regard to her work, viewing it as a trust and privilege … She was absolutely dependable, congenial, and collaborative and was fully committed to the work to which she dedicated her life.” 

He said Parlin’s dedication and commitment was “without a doubt” instrumental in keeping the people of the Grand Island diocese in touch with each other.  

“Her efforts have helped to create a sense of unity between the parish communities, and enabled them to stay connected to the larger, universal Church,” he said. 

Parlin, who is a parishioner at St. Mary’s in Wood River, began at the West Nebraska Register in 1980 part-time as a typesetter for Father Bernard Berger, editor at the time. Although neither had any experience with the new equipment, she remembered using what they called “the blue beast” to mix chemicals and print strips of stories, then cut and wax the strips, and “paste” up the pages onto newspaper-sized sheets of paper, long before digital means and pagination. 

“It was a trying time,” she said, “but also an exciting one.” 

She was eventually given more responsibilities and, in 1991, was named co-editor of the newspaper with Marilyn Zastrow, the first female editors in the history of the newspaper. They were also the first lay (non-ordained) editors of the paper. At the time, there were only 10 in the country. In 1998, she became chief female editor, the only female of the three Catholic newspapers in the state. She retired in July after a career spanning more than 42 years. 

She said during all the years working for the diocese and telling the Church’s story, she never thought it was just a job. 

“It became a ministry, a vocation,” she said. “I have been blessed beyond words.” 

Father Curran said her lengthy career with the diocese was “motivated by a love for the church, a concern for others and the belief that the good news of the gospel could be proclaimed in a variety of ways.” 

“For her, it was a means to enliven her own faith and that of others — the faith that she held so dear — sharing it with her own family, and with her fellow parishioners at St. Mary’s in Wood River,” he said. 

He added that she not only recognized her gift and her vocational call, but she was blessed with the gift of creativity. 

“She had an ability to not only present things in a clear and understandable way,” he said, “but because of her artistic inclination, in an attractive and inviting way.” 

Over the years, Parlin attended and photographed 22 priest ordinations and two bishop’s ordinations among hundreds of other events and stories from around the diocese. She said the best part of her work was seeing the strong, but humble, faith of the people.  

“I have met many wonderful people across the diocese,” she said. “For all who allowed me to fulfill my ministry, I thank you.” 

(Jean Fedigan, founder of a nonprofit in the Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., that serves homeless and trafficked women, was recently announced as the 2022-2023 recipient of Catholic Extension’s Lumen Christi Award.)