The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) is an association of Catholic newspapers and periodicals, news agencies and publishing houses, journalists and teachers of journalism. The ICPA is one of the oldest and most active Catholic press organisations in Asia.
Founded in 1963 by the editors of three dailies (Deepika, Kerala Times, and Thozhilali) and of five weeklies (The Examiner, The New Leader, The Herald, Sanjivan and Raknno), ICPA now has over 160 members, including some of the leading Catholic periodicals and publishing houses of India and several Catholic journalists and teachers of journalism. It was Patna Jesuit Fr. John Barrett, the founder-editor of the Hindi Catholic weekly, Sanjivan, who brought together the editors of these Catholic periodicals in Delhi, to found the Association.
Fr. Eric D’Souza, the then editor of the Catholic weekly, The New Leader, was elected the first President and Fr. Barrett was elected the first Secretary. Since membership of the association was limited to editors only, there was a membership crisis till the mid-1970s. However, when the membership in ICPA was opened, in 1975, to Catholic journalists and publishers, there was a dramatic increase in membership. It peaked to 200 at one time.
The Association grew in strength thanks to the efforts made by Fr. McFarland SJ, the then Secretary, and Archbishop Alphonse Mathias the then Chairman, CBCI Commission for Social Communications. In a way, 1975 saw the re-birth of ICPA.
Since 1975 Annual General Body Meetings (AGMs) have been regularly held, except in 1982, when the meeting, scheduled to be held in Goa, was called off at the last minute as the envisaged funds had not come.
From 1995 onwards AGMs have been preceded by a National Convention of Christian Journalists (NCCJ). In 2002 ICPA decided to invite delegates from other South Asian countries to attend the National Convention.
The Association functioned for two decades under a Constitution modeled on the Companies Act of India. In 1985 it was modified on thepattern of the Societies Act of India and was registered at Kochi, on October 30, 1985 as ER 466/85 under, Xiterary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act 1955 of ^Travancore and Cochin State, with its Registered Office in Emakulam.
The present office address of ICPA is:
Barrett Bhavan
2/5,4th Cross, Vivekananda Nagar MS Nagar P O,
BANGLORE-560033
Website: www.indiancalholicpress.org
The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) is a member of the International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP) based in Geneva, Switzerland, the address of which is
UCIP, CP 197,
Rue de Vermont 37-39,
1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Website: www.ucip.ch