Marist priest takes out international book prize

New Zealander takes out international book prize

Monday, July 18th, 2022

New Zealander Fr Gerald Arbuckle’s latest book has taken out first place in his category at the annual USA/Canada Catholic Media Association in the United States.

The book, “The Pandemic and the People of God: Cultural Impacts and Pastoral Responses” won First Place (Category “B50: “Future Church”) section.

The book by the Australian-based New Zealand Marist priest focuses on a number of major issues: the enduring national and international human costs of chaos; the injustices suffered by the vulnerable and the human values of solidarity; compassion and justice that must infuse the decision-making of individuals and governments in their efforts to respond to the pandemic and its aftermath.

The judge said the book was timely for the pandemic situation but also held ongoing relevance to the future of the Church.

“I understand the timely decision to connect this wonderful book to a current concern, but it seems to me that this book is about much more than the pandemic”, the judge said.

He also hopes it will succeed – despite its title.

Arbuckle (pictured) provides a new vision for understanding how to make the “Kingdom of God” present and alive for new generations, the judge said.

It is “brimming with hope and the confidence of the creative spirits of the human person who desires to live in solidarity, compassion and a commitment to justice.”

Nor does he minimise the obstacles in the way, the judge said.

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Arbuckle told CathNews that the more he researched the more he realised that no single event since WWII has left so many people in so many nations traumatised, overwhelmed by grief and stunned by the cultural and economic consequences of the disease.

“When an event as huge and globally significant as the pandemic happens, the political, social and economic reverberations take years and even generations to play out, and they spin off in unpredictable directions.

“An experience of such traumatic severity leaves indelible physical and mental marks,” he said.

Arbuckle is very grateful to receive the award and hopes it will prompt people to read it.

“I hope they will discover that only by working together in faith and hope will it be possible to come through the long-term crises caused by the pandemic.

“We cannot go on thinking of ourselves alone.”

Recalling an incident which he says many millions of others may have experienced, he said when he first returned to his daily routine he noticed how glad everyone was to be “back to normal. We wanted our personal normality”.

The pandemic illustrates a profound lesson about culture, he says in his book.

“Within each human person there is an unlimited yearning for liberty, but this desire competes with a longing for normality, order and the familiar. Ultimately, this last desire most often wins.”

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