In March 1919 the paper was purchased from the Winter family by the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and continued weekly publication until 1990.
Editor for many years, but including 1961–1969, was Father Denis Murphy, a superannuated parish priest, whose only function, according to Costigan, was to ensure inclusion in each issue of a page of Irish news, which he got from a correspondent in Dublin.
Other journalists and contributors mentioned by Costigan were parish news roundsman John McLean, sub-editor Bert De Luca, editorial writer Denys Jackson, film reviewer and media commentator Ronald Conway, sports reporter Hugh Buggy, women's commentator "Catherine Kaye", and literary critic Martin Haley.
Aside from shorter film, theatre and book reviews, he published many essays on Catholic/literary subjects such as Martin F. Tupper,[6] early Melbourne,[7] nursery rhymes,[8] Brian Elliott,[9] the Tyndale Bible[10][11] and numerous diatribes against Communism and secularism.
Michael Costigan identifies his friend and mentor as "a former seminarian with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart", whose skills as a journalist were picked up "on the job" at The Advocate.