The phone rang in my office last week and the caller made my day.
“Hi, Mary. I’m so glad you are there. I’d like to order a gift subscription to The Catholic Spirit for my friend. She loves the paper but can’t always get to church to get it.”
She went on to say that she often sends her friends copies of the paper because she looks forward so much to receiving her copy at home.
Later that day, another of our columnists emailed to say she loved the December issue because it shows how vibrant our Diocese is, and perhaps my favorite of the week was a conversation with a religious sister who shared how much the sisters in the motherhouse love getting the paper, painting an image I won’t soon forget of their gathering space filled with sisters holding newspapers, all scanning the pages of The Catholic Spirit.
Our newspaper serves the counties of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren, keeping everyone abreast of the work of the local Church, parishes and schools, providing information on world and national happenings and encouraging readers to see themselves as members of an awesome Catholic family.
But the importance of the Catholic press was recognized long before our time. The first Catholic paper in the country, United States Catholic Miscellany, was established by Bishop John England for his flock in the Carolinas and Georgia in 1822. Bishop England wanted to speak out about the rights of his immigrant faithful, but the secular press wouldn’t run his letters. So, he started his own newspaper, to support, educate and form his people.
In 1911, representatives from Catholic newspapers in the United States and Canada met in Columbus, Ohio, for their first national meeting becoming the first Catholic Press Association. In 1924, Time included a piece on Press Month, stating: “February is Press Month. … Bishops and priests will call attention to the need of strengthening the Catholic press and will outline its mission – to give Catholics an accurate account of events in which they are interested.
“The Catholic Press, according to utterances of Popes Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV and Pius XI, is an ‘apostolate second only to the divine doctrines and laws and worship of the Church.’
“Louis H. Walsh, Bishop of Portland, is Chairman of the Department of Press Publicity and Literature, [National Catholic Welfare Conference]. Said he: ‘Propaganda (false as well as true) is the great achievement of our new 20th Century, as revealed during the World War, and is now being carried out to an extent little realized by the rank and file of the people in every nation.’”
Little has changed in some 100 years. Catholics and all people of faith are subjected to a steady stream of propaganda, often vicious and destructive, from a variety of communications outlets.
But as members of the Catholic Press, we believe in the words of Pope St. John Paul II who wrote: “Your work can be a force for great good or great evil. You yourselves know the dangers, as well as the splendid opportunities open to you. Communication products can be works of great beauty, revealing what is noble and uplifting in humanity and promoting what is just and fair and true. On the other hand, communications can appeal to and promote what is debased in people …
“All the media of popular culture which you represent can build or destroy, uplift or cast down. You have untold possibilities for good, ominous possibilities for destruction. It is the difference between death and life – the death or life of the spirit. And it is a matter of choice. The challenge of Moses to the people of Israel is applicable to all of us today: ‘I set before you life and death ... Choose life’ (Dt 30:19).
Please know of our appreciation for the work we are privileged to do on your behalf, and our gratitude to the bishops, particularly Bishop James F. Checchio, who keep Catholic Communications alive for their flocks.
St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of Communications, pray for us.