Retired editor Wayne Phaneuf was honored at the third annual blessing of journalists at Christ Church Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts, on February 25.
The service was initiated two years ago by the Right Rev. Douglas Fisher, diocesan bishop, to show support for “the work of a free press.”
Phaneuf is the second person to receive the award that honors a journalist for “excellence in bringing local and national concerns to the people of Western Massachusetts.”
… The Feb. 25 service is open to the public and will include the reading of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as readings from Scripture.
Prayers will be offered for journalists locally and around the world.
The service is held in February in conjunction with the Episcopal Church’s annual commemoration of Frederick Douglass, the 19th century orator, civil rights leader and editor of the pro-abolition journal The North Star.
Local television station WWLP also reports,
Bishop Doug Fisher told 22News, “We just want to celebrate journalists for what they do, for all the time they take to bring us the truth and even some places in the world they risk their lives, so we just want to say what a great blessing they are to us.”
Photo: Christ Church Cathedral, Springfield, MA