WelCom April 2023
The Marist Messenger monthly publication has come to an end. The editorial in the March edition informed subscribers that it was the final issue.
‘Unfortunately the Society of Mary has not been able to find a suitable editor to replace Fr Pat Brophy, who late last year was appointed to the Society of Mary General House in Rome as Bursar General,’ said Thige O’Leary sm, Assistant Provincial, Society of Mary New Zealand.
‘With the decline of readership generally, and increased costs, the magazine has been facing mounting pressures. Subscribers who have current subscriptions have been advised they may apply to be reimbursed for the period that is remaining,’ he said.
Now in its 94th year, the Marist Messenger was founded by Fr Kevin McGrath as a parish newsletter called the The Empire Fetelist in St Heliers, Auckland, in November 1929. ‘The old-fashioned term “fetelist” meant something like “an advertisement for a fete”, in this case, the “Empire Fete”, which was to be held on 14 December 1929,’ Thige O’Leary said.
After two issues readers were advised The Fetelist would become the Marist Messenger for its next issue, and subscriptions at the rate of 2/- per year post free were solicited. And so the Marist Messenger began.