Father John J. Dietzen, the foremost question-and-answer columnist in the Catholic press for 35 years and a former associate editor of The Catholic Post, has been nominated posthumously for the highest honor of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.

Father Dietzen, who died March 27 at the age of 83, is one of three finalists for the St. Francis de Sales Award, presented for “outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism.” St. Francis de Sales is the patron of the Catholic press. The finalists were announced by association executive director Tim Walter on May 4.

The award recipient will be selected by a vote of Catholic Press Association membership and be recognized along with the other nominees at the Catholic Media Convocation in Pittsburgh this June 22-24 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Father Dietzen was associate editor of The Catholic Post and its predecessor, The Register, from 1957 to 1973. In 1971, he began a question-and-answer column called “The Question Box” in The Catholic Post to help readers understand changes taking place in the church.

Letters began coming in on all aspects of Catholic life and, in 1975, the column was syndicated nationally by Catholic News Service. Father Dietzen quickly became CNS’ most widely circulated columnist, and he continued to answer reader questions until the month of his death.

In addition to his work with the Catholic press, Father Dietzen is the former pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Bloomington and St. Mark’s Parish in Peoria. From 1957 to 1973 he was diocesan director of family life programs, and was founding chairman of the Diocese of Peoria’s Respect Life Board. At the time of his death, he was episcopal vicar for senior priests of the diocese.

Another of the finalists for the St. Francis de Sales Award also has a connection to The Catholic Post. Robert Zyskowski, associate publisher and general manager of The Catholic Spirit in St. Paul, Minn., is a journalism graduate of Bradley University in Peoria and began his Catholic press career as a reporter for The Catholic Post.

The final nominee is Joseph Kirk Ryan, assistant editor of The Dialog in Wilmington, Del. Both Ryan and Zyskowski are former presidents of the Catholic Press Association.

Should Father Dietzen receive the St. Francis de Sales Award, he will be The Catholic Post’s third recipient. Msgr. Robert G. Peters, longtime editor and publisher, received the CPA’s first such award in 1970. Former editor and publisher Albina Aspell, who like Msgr. Peters was an association president, was the recipient in 1992.