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NCR at 45: as vital as ever
This is the new Catholic moment for the church in the United States
Oct. 01, 2009
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PDF version“The core function of religious journalism, as of all journalism, is to find out what is going on and report it.”
-- National Catholic Reporter inaugural issue editorial, October 1964, “Planks for a Platform”
Over the years, the National Catholic Reporter has published some innovative (some would say radical) notions, but none more so than that quoted above.
The idea, as NCR’s founding editors spelled out 45 years ago this month, that Catholic journalists could press church leaders “for as much information as can be had about events and their meaning,” which would require “the putting of awkward questions and the printing of awkward facts,” was unique.
There simply was no tradition, no expectation that Catholic journalists in the United States would hold church officials accountable in the manner that a good reporter assigned to city hall would do with a local mayor. “There is nothing basically wrong with the Catholic press that an acute paper shortage would not cure,” Chicago Catholic journalist Dan Herr quipped in 1961, three years prior to NCR’s first issue.
NCR was, from the get-go, an audacious undertaking.
Today’s NCR
Much has changed in the church and world over the past four-and-a-half decades, but at NCR, one thing is constant: We aim “to find out what is going on and report it.”
In this issue, for example, staff writer Teresa Malcolm reports from Portland, Ore., on the St. Philip Neri Parish “Muddy Boot Organic Festival,” a unique evangelization and educational event; editor at large Tom Roberts reports -- as part of his “Emerging Church” series -- on the church of the Southwest United States; senior correspondent John L. Allen Jr. provides first-rate reporting and analysis of the U.S. bishops and their stance in the current health care debate; Washington correspondent Jerry Filteau, meanwhile, covers the broad range of ethical issues discussed at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit. From New York, Michael Humphrey sought out Catholic peace and environmental activists for their response to President Obama’s United Nations visit.
Nowhere else will a concerned Catholic find such coverage. Facing acute economic difficulties, the nation’s daily newspapers are abandoning serious coverage of religion. “There have been reductions in the number of reporters who write about religion full-time at all of the nation’s biggest newspapers, and the religion news beat has disappeared from multiple midsize and smaller papers,” The Boston Globe’s Michael Paulson wrote recently. “The surviving newspaper religion sections are getting smaller.”
NCR, as you may have noticed, is getting larger, not smaller. In our opinion pages this week, Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister, a longtime NCR columnist, comments on the potentially unintended consequences of stifling speech; Fr. Richard McBrien examines efforts to “reform the reform” of church liturgy; veteran Catholic journalist Heidi Schlumpf points readers to Catholic blogs that offer more light than heat. Not least, in a penetrating and important essay, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Sandra Schneiders separates the essential from the incidental in women religious communities of the 21st century.
Meanwhile, our Fall Books supplement offers much to consider, including reviews that cover the landscape related to the fastest growing segment of the U.S. church: Latinos and Latinas.
Our founders put it this way: “A newspaper dedicated to reporting and free to do the job still has to decide what is significant, relevant, vital and therefore worth reporting. Since we like being in the kitchen, we’ll take the heat.” Indeed, we will.
Changing needs of readers
Some things about NCR have changed, not least the information needs of our readers. The wide-open, wide-ranging conversations generated by the “spirit of Vatican II” still exist, to be sure, but there are many topics openly discussed not too many years ago that are now considered verboten in official church circles. Not in NCR.
Again, NCR’s founders put it well 45 years ago: “Our orientation ... is toward reporting the news, toward enterprise and relevance, toward dialogue with practically everybody. We are a religious paper with worldly interests. We are committed to the church, and secure enough in our commitment to keep wondering what the church is and will become.”
NCR is as vital today as ever because the generation of post-Vatican II U.S. Catholics -- the largest, most highly educated, affluent and influential group of coreligionists the world has ever seen -- is now taking a leadership role in the church. Meanwhile, they are also bringing their religious values into their professional and personal lives -- as leaders of universities and businesses, government officials, in the arts and the professions, as parents and community members -- in a manner their immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents could only marvel at.
This is the new Catholic moment for the church in the United States.
These post-Vatican II lay leaders demand more than their ancestors. As Americans, they are used to operating in professional environments that demand accountability. The companies and nonprofits they manage operate with a high degree of transparency. And they expect that when they offer their time, talent and treasure to the parish, or to the church-sponsored nonprofit, or to their bishop, that basic standards of accountability and transparency be present.
This is not an ideological notion, where “progressive” Catholics can be easily distinguished from their “conservative” counterparts. The post-Vatican II American Catholic -- whatever his or her political or theological inclinations -- increasingly sees no reason why the church should operate on a wholly different plane than every other significant institution in our society.
It is our job at NCR to help provide this new generation of Catholic lay leaders with the tools, the vocabulary -- the news, analysis and commentary -- they need to function successfully in an institution that resists openness, that too often seeks opaqueness rather than sunlight.
The face of NCR over the yearsThe business of NCR
As publisher of NCR, it’s my job to ensure the numbers add up, that this “brave little paper” (as The New York Times once described NCR) has a future as vital as its past.
To that end, NCR has embarked on a significant (and expensive) effort to reach out directly to self-identified lay leaders in parishes and other church institutions. We are putting the paper directly in the hands of post-Vatican II lay leaders. Many are seeing it for the first time. The reaction, in terms of response rates to our marketing campaigns, has been most heartening.
Meanwhile, we have embraced the Internet. Last month, the NCR Web site (NCRonline.org) racked up nearly 1 million page views, about double the number from the same time last year. NCR has a strong Facebook and Twitter presence. The reason for the increased Web traffic is clear: On a daily basis, NCR is providing information -- reporting, analysis and commentary -- that Catholics who care about their church need to read.
Paying for all this is, of course, a challenge.
Newspapers have traditionally relied on two revenue streams to fund their operations: subscription revenue and advertising dollars. The “Great Recession” of the past year reduced the latter by as much as 50 percent at some papers and we took a hit at NCR, where advertising revenue declined by about 20 percent last fiscal year. (That trend, thankfully, has eased somewhat and seems to be returning to a more normal pattern.)
Earlier this year, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced legislation that would allow the nation’s economically beleaguered big daily papers to tap another revenue source. Under Cardin’s bill, these papers could become nonprofits and thus seek charitable support from local civic leaders and those who value journalism in their communities.
It is an interesting idea. One, in fact, that NCR has been implementing for more than four decades. From its inception, NCR, in addition to subscription revenue and advertising dollars, has relied on the financial support of Catholics who value the independent news, analysis and commentary we provide. We would not exist without it.
In addition to celebrating our 45th birthday this month, October is the time we launch our “Friends of NCR” campaign. If you value what we do, please consider supporting NCR. (Checks, made out to the National Catholic Reporter, can be mailed to National Catholic Reporter, Attn: Fund Development, 115. E Armour Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111, or contributions can be made online at the NCR Web site, NCRonline.org/donate.)
Over the next few weeks, meanwhile, all NCR subscribers will receive information on how to give NCR as a Christmas gift to someone you know would benefit from a subscription. I urge you, as we reach out to the next generation of Catholic lay leaders, to consider making NCR a gift to a friend or family member.
And, not least, in order to further increase our coverage, to expand our outreach to post-Vatican II Catholics, and to continue to build our presence on the Web, NCR is embarked on a three-year $3.5 million capital campaign. Less than a year into that effort, we are nearly one-third of the way to achieving our goal. Please contact me at jfeuerherd@ncronline.org (please put “capital campaign” in the subject line) if you would like more information on this effort.
“We think this kind of work can be a vocation,” NCR’s editors said 45 years ago. “One reason it may be our vocation is that we like doing it and think it makes a difference in the world.”
I know that NCR makes a difference. After all, without it, who would find out what is going on in our church and report it?
Joe Feuerherd is NCR publisher. His e-mail address is jfeuerherd@ncronline.org.
One of the greatest gifts to
One of the greatest gifts to the Catholic Church in the twentieth and twenty-first century is the NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER ! We owe a great deal to this remarkable group of journalists and writers who have made NCR a truly superior publication that consistently strives to advance both honesty and justice in reporting important stories. Yes, NCR has helped hundreds of thousands of people around the world by providing a significant connection to the Church. May NCR continue to grow and thrive. We have never needed a newspaper of this caliber more than at this critical moment in Catholic history.
Thanks from a UK reader who
Thanks from a UK reader who has himself responsibilities for communicating truth in a fortnightly column in a national Catholic newspaper. (try www.secondsightblog.co.uk). NCR has proved invaluable as a source of understanding the news behind the news. Should the Catholic Church, which I love, ever grow up to be the community which Christ intended, NCR will have played not only a large but an essential part.
My father (God rest his soul) was editor of the Catholic Herald between 1934 and 1962. He devoted his journalistic life to constructive commentary on Catholic affairs. He was the first Catholic editor in this country to introduce an uncensored Readers' Letters page.
Thank you, NCR, and
Thank you, NCR, and Congratulations! Without NCR readers would not get the real story on so many important issues, both church related and global. Diocesan papers are obliged to be little more than diocesan newsletters in many cases.
NCR - Bastion of dissent.
NCR - Bastion of dissent. Still not approved by their home diocese as a legitimate Catholic publication.
For the anniversary I suggest turning over a new leaf: making public profession of the truth Catholic faith and pledging your allegiance to the successor of PEter and all the Church's teachings.
and so not be a real
and so not be a real newspaper anymore?
And so not be a REAL Roman
And so not be a REAL Roman Catholic newspaper anymore?
A real newspaper or a real
A real newspaper or a real Catholic. Which would you rather be? A Catholic is called to accept the full deposit of faith and adhere to ALL Catholic teachings (even the ones they do not like). So a publication that uses the word Catholic in its title should in my opinion profess ALL Catholic teachings without dissent. There is plenty of criticism to be made as to Church administration, but there should NO dissent on essential teachings.
Tom, This is your definition
Tom,
This is your definition of a Catholic. I respect that and, undoubtably, it is shared by others. But there are still many others who do not agreed with you as to what you discribe as what makes a Catholic. Just think how few would be Catholic if you were to eliminate all who practice or believe in the use of birth control or supported the death penality or the Iraq war (just to mention a few areas where there is honest disagreeement). I will remind you that one of The Church's teaching is the primacy of conscience.
We will have disagreements, but we must, as Christians, find a way to, not just live together, but to worship together. This is never very easy, but Christ did not promise that the path of following him would be easy. Peace and prayers to you, my fellow traveler.
Very few Catholics have any
Very few Catholics have any clear idea of what the essential teachings of the Church are or understand that, even in the Church's teaching about its teachings, there is a hierarchy of importance. Unfortunately for the perspective you offer, there appears no appreciation that language is always subjective and always about interpretation.
Congratulations on its 45th
Congratulations on its 45th anniversary to the National Catholic Reporter, a great paper, founded by the great Robert Hoyt!
(He spoke at my high school graduation fifty years ago).
Suggestions for the paper's future:
(1) Get rid of the religious and clerical writers and return to lay reporters. The dreary columns by Chittister and Schneiders, in particular, are not up to the old standards.
(2) Get better software for the online edition, so that new comments on articles are not buried among the old ones, and that articles and columns do not disappear after a day or two.
For those who have forgotten the old standards:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,834677-1,00.html
For those who have forgotten Robert Hoyt (unmentioned in your article):
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS257&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=r...
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http://GerelynHollingsworth.com/
The brilliant and challenging
The brilliant and challenging and intelligent and insightful and truly Faith-based column by the reverend and wise Sister Joan Chittister is the greatest highlight for me!
Dreary?
Experience may vary!
To read quickly your own comments which might have been buried try using the excellent "search" engine here, which is very and swiftly efficient.
Yes, dreary. E.g.: "Katie
Yes, dreary.
E.g.: "Katie was a second-grader in one of our schools."
Riiiight.
------
http://GerelynHollingsworth.com/
Keep up the good work as it
Keep up the good work as it is an inspiration. Such a pleasure to read something Catholic and not feel I'm being brainwashed like I was for many years.
By brainwashing, do you mean
By brainwashing, do you mean official Church teachings as found in the Cathecism, or what you hear on the news, or from a particular priest or teacher? Please tell us the source of your "brainwashing." Or perhaps it was your parents who "brainwashed" you with doctrines such as forbidding pre-marital sex, or forbidding the use of contraception. Please inform us as to what it was you felt was falsely taught.
Congratulations for 45 years
Congratulations for 45 years of courageous and informative journalism at the service of Truth.Gratias igitur agamus Domino qui vos adjuvit et protexit.
Prospere procede! Ad multos annos. Ad multas palmas.
Having moved to diocese that
Having moved to diocese that is unlike any other I've lived in (and I don't mean that in a good way), I have needed a great deal of prayer, patience, perspective and uncensored information. Thank you NCR for providing part of that for me. I think, perhaps, it is time for me to put my money where my mouth is. Why should my parish, which will no longer bless any kids during communion, refuses those who do not sign an '"oath" as eucharistic ministers and/or lectors, has had clergy pull books like Harry Potter and a book on Obama from the school library and has a deacon who "asked" a mom who refused to be part of an email list that railed against Obama (comparing him to Hitler) if he should remove her son from the altar server schedule... the list goes on... get my money? Why? They are not in the business of building the Catholic Church. They are not about love or about the way of Jesus. They are about blind obedience, shutting down debate or discussion and defending a hierarchy that is marching our Church backwards. This "heretic" may just decide to give NCR the check instead.
Tanders: there have always
Tanders: there have always been crazy people in the Catholic Church and out. I hope that you can find or build a community of loving christian people in the area where you live. A lot of Parishes have websites now. There is a code word: "welcoming". Using this word as a guide, I have visted Parishes not completely full of fear-filled nut jobs - I have found this to be true most of the time. Hope there is one fairly close to you.
Congratulations on 45
Congratulations on 45 marvelous years.
Would you consider evaluating the Catechism of the Catholic Church as one of NCR's future projects? In my opinion, it is beautifully written, but inherently regressive. Its teachings, especially around the areas of sexuality and women's roles seem to be a denial of the possibility of development of dogma. Do you agree with me that the CCC is an effort to stifle the "fresh air" that Pope John XXIII desired to let in upon us? God bless!
JR
You are correct! The
You are correct! The teachings of the Church are "outdated." Let us take an online poll to come up with our new teachings. Maybe we can even find a new name for the Church with modern sex appeal?
Sign me up. I was a
Sign me up. I was a subscriber when NCR was born. I cancelled my subscription because you were not liberal enough. But now I realize I have to support NCR as the last hope of ever changing the church. I like your new columnists. Hope you have a columnist that represents SNAP and VOTF views. NCR will never satisfy me and many others, but we do have a big obligation to support NCR.
tom
NCR does provide me with a
NCR does provide me with a source of entertainment when I am bored and what to see what the crazies are up to.
or maybe need to open a
or maybe need to open a window...
When you are bored, perhaps
When you are bored, perhaps it would be good to reflect on what is Christian charity. I think, in your post, you fail to exhibit it. Why is it that the extremes always seem to think they don't need to practice this virtue? If we want to be Christian, we must be willing to do the hard work. Resisting this kind of mean-spirited sarcasm is part of the hard work.
Maybe it was the brashness of
Maybe it was the brashness of youth back in the sixties when the Council was still fresh and it looked as though the bark of Peter was going to stay in the 20th century into which it had been towed. I think NCR has become more politic, more concerned with what bishops and curial bureacrats will think and say, with possible negative effects on the paper and you probably really believe, on the church.
In a word, I see NCR as having lost its prophetic voice, and I remember Jesus' saying about salt losing its savor. I miss Ad Random, and don't even remember when it stopped, but its absence feels like a loss. I have not renewed my subscription for all of the above reasons. If you get onto a reassertion of the pastoral values of Vatican II in preparation for the 50th anniversary,or the heralding of a new council, I may be persuaded to renew.
One last thought: I think that the dialogue has been dumbed down by those who say that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But as Tip O'Neil said, they're not entitled to their own facts. I find the two values of opinion and fact too often conflated in the pages of NCR.
I also miss the delightful Ad
I also miss the delightful Ad Random column of briefs
and whatever happened to the amateur poetry column so recently removed?
It always rejected me but still I miss it
I am extremely impressed with
I am extremely impressed with the work you've done over the past 45 years. You are to be commended for your unique approach to presenting the Catholic faith. This is by far my favorite source for news. Thanks for all the assistance you've given me!
Prince of Darkness
I am also infernally grateful
I am also infernally grateful to NCR for all the work they have done for our cause.
Screwtape
NCR, hmmmmm.... what does
NCR, hmmmmm.... what does that mean? Let's see...Nonsense Confusion and no no no....Not Catholic, Really? Nooo....Nuts Cornballs and Rejects, self-made of course. No, help me here people,I can't quite nail it.
I think Jay Carrigan's
I think Jay Carrigan's comments to this thread are quite valid. I too, have felt that many of NCR reporters such as John Allen are so enamored with Vatican insider's power and opinions that they have lost sight of the real significance of the Second Vatican Council. I too hope that NCR will try harder and be more courageous by standing up to the right wing elitists of the Church without apology. That said, I continue to salute NCR journalists on the whole and I pray that NCR will continue to challenge the Church's power holders in the true spirit of the Council by standing with those Catholics and other Christians who have been marginalized and disenfranchised by power hungry Vatican bureaucrats who have abandoned Christ's teachings in order to live a life as imperial princes.
What about the real
What about the real significance of Vatican I, or Trent for that matter. Why all the emphasis on a single Council and complete disregard for the many many others?
Young Catholics are not
Young Catholics are not interested in the dissent and disobedience, the whackiness, and the hippy sandal nonsense of the ncr, except for the amusement value when we see articles featured on the Catholic blogs. But really it is sad to see a publication hell bent on destroying the Holy Catholic Church and leading souls astray with their errors. They won't destroy the Church but their dissent is leading souls astray.
The National Catholic
The National Catholic Reporter? A rag of a Catholic journal that deserves to go down in flames in bankruptcky just like its Canadian equivalent the former Catholic New Times.
First, a good press should be
First, a good press should be fostered. To instill a fully Christian spirit into readers, a truly Catholic press should be set up and encouraged. Such a press-whether immediately fostered and directed by ecclesiastical authorities or by Catholic laymen-should be edited with the clear purpose of forming, supporting and advancing public opinion in accord with natural law and Catholic teaching and precepts. It should disseminate and properly explain news concerning the life of the Church. Moreover, the faithful ought to be advised of the necessity both to spread and read the Catholic press to formulate Christian judgments for themselves on all events.
(Vatican II, Inter Mirifica 14)
Yawn. The biological solution
Yawn.
The biological solution is taking care of the dissenters and wackos who are stuck in a 60's mentality. Deo gratias.
The paper is way past its prime or usefulness. The reform of the malformed 60s reform is underway; and with it, the clown masses, disco masses, wiccan-influenced theology, tie-dyed vestments, banal music, anything-goes catechists, and hand-thrown pottery are getting thrown out, and not a moment too soon.
We're blessed to have the Holy Father leading the charge. He was there and saw the rotten fruits that came out of an orthodox and faithful council which was hijacked into something it was not intended to be.
Fortunately, there are an infinite number of sources of good, wholesome, and orthodox Catholic information than a fading newsweekly published in Kansas City; like all sources of traditional media today, there are easily-discovered alternatives which aren't afraid to challenge and expose what is really published without the filter of an agenda.
I'll pray for you. Sincerely.
Three cheers and a
Three cheers and a tiger!
Hoorah! Hoorah! Hooraaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
There's no room in our church for OLD GEEZERS. The biological (aka final) solution will take care of them all. Only the young and potent will remain.
The only thing that keeps the
The only thing that keeps the NCR still going is John Allen. If he were to move on someday, I think that would be the end of you. He is the only credible journalist you have.
NCR is now half as old as its
NCR is now half as old as its average reader. I wouldn't count on another 15 years let alone another 45.
Maybe the aging hippies read
Maybe the aging hippies read this rag, but no young Catholic who actually believes the faith does.
Here's what's in my Catholic RSS feed:
WDTPRS
New Liturgical Movement
ZENIT
Whispers in the Loggia
Rorate Coeli
American Papist
Creative Minority Report
Standing on My Head
Hermaneutic of Continutity
Fr. Hunwicke's Liturgical Blog
The Deacon's Bench
Ordo Praedicatorum
The biological solution will take care of you Baby Boomers that ruined the Church soon enough.
Ummm, I wouldn't call the
Ummm, I wouldn't call the Deacon's Bench blog a bastion of solid, conservative Catholicism......
I know virtually hundreds of
I know virtually hundreds of young Catholics from California to Massachusetts who not only read but admire the NCR as one of the few Catholic publications they truly trust to "get it right." The right wingers who have posted so much hatred and drivel in this thread just can't stand it when younger Catholics question and reject the decaying model of Roman Imperial Catholicism! This model was in need of radical reform and rebirth at the start of the Second Vatican Council and no matter how far the current right wing reactionary elements in the Vatican try to RESTORE the Church to the days of TRENT, it is not only too late it is the one factor that will advance the speed of decay and rejection of this imperial model. The People of God became educated about Church history and no one is buying the pre-Vatican II ideas of Catholicism. That train has left the station!
Thank you, NCR, for being a
Thank you, NCR, for being a clear voice of truth in a often muddled soup of polticized religion. The very fact that no one can decide how to label you speaks of your integrity. The truth is far to valuable to be bargained for power. You speak truth to power without regard to its convenience or expedience. Stay true to that mission and you serve the Divine well, beyond the walls of vested interest.
si se puede! "The greatest
si se puede!
"The greatest act of patriotism is dissent."
- Thomas Jefferson
Thank you, NCR and its
Thank you, NCR and its writers and editors, for making it possible to stay in touch with Catholic issues that are important to me.
Two wishes for NCR's anniversary:
1. I wish comments to articles were published in chronological order. They appear randomly right now, making discussions difficult to follow.
2. I wish commentary here was reserved for those who identified themselves by first and last name and included a real contact for the writer. I'm particularly saddened by nasty, gleeful comments of late that suggest that those who disagree with conservative positions should just die. By their fruits, we know them.
This is really a very funny
This is really a very funny thread, although let me be one of the ones who actually know how to congratulate NCR for their many years amongst us all, as much as anything for having the guts to expose the pedophilia scandal loudly and clearly beginning so many years ago.
All these people who are just having problems in maturation vis a vis the older generation are, amazingly (?), the very same ones who can't stay in a room long enough to carry on a converstaion about any of these topics. Speaking of boredom: being in a Church community with so many people who ONLY have angry, meanish things to say about others.
...and they'll know we are Christians by our what?
Would like to see your annual
Would like to see your annual number of paid subscribers over those 45 years.
It's a big old Catholic
It's a big old Catholic Church and thank Goodness the National Catholic Reporter is there to provide perspective when some mossback bishop pops off about supposed Catholic theology that is closer to the Republican Party platform than the Gospel According to Matthew. Here's to 45 more years of providing the rest of the story to captive dioceses!
I would like to know 'if
I would like to know 'if anyone watches The Eternal Word Network (EWTN)All those who dissent- would perhaps learn something about the Church!
NCR, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING
NCR,
THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO! GOD BLESS YOU!
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