Now in its 136th year, the Catholic Courier is published by the Rochester Catholic Press Association, Inc. (RCPA), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
Each month, the RCPA reaches more than 170,000 readers in the 12-county Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, New York — and around the world — through both print publications and free digital media offerings designed to inspire anyone seeking to live a Catholic life and deepen their faith in Jesus.
With print circulation of 90,857 area households, the Catholic Courier is the largest paid-circulation, print publication in the Greater Rochester area — several times larger than Rochester’s daily newspaper, even on Sundays!. The Courier, which also publishes this website and three weekly e-newsletters, is the winner of journalistic-excellence awards too numerous to count — 27 of them for 2024 work alone — from national and state press associations.
MISSION STATEMENT
The Rochester Catholic Press Association is the conduit for timely, compelling, and trustworthy information about the Catholic faith, the Church, the Diocese and parishes, and their charitable activities. It uses digital, print, and social media to inspire lifelong faith formation and transform personal and community life as inspired and directed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Revised March 15, 2023 by the RCPA Board of Directors
History of the Catholic Courier
The newspaper was founded by lay Catholics in 1889 as The Catholic Journal. Over the next century, its name consisted of the words “Catholic,” “Courier” and “Journal” in various combinations, and the paper was officially renamed Catholic Courier on its 100th anniversary in 1989.
The Rochester Diocese assumed ownership of the newspaper in the wake of the Great Depression, and the RCPA Inc. was established as a New York not-for-profit corporation in 1951.
The Courier launched its first website in 1996 and is currently on its seventh iteration, which emphasizes multimedia and video storytelling, and includes all printed content plus many additional resources. Each month, this free-to-read site draws more than 40,000 visitors from around the world who view nearly 75,000 pages.
Other offerings of the Rochester Catholic Press Association
Our first weekly e-newsletter was established in January 2008. A second leisure-oriented edition launched in 2016, and a third edition oriented to the Sunday Scriptures was added in 2018. The three e-newsletters reach 6,500 to 13,000 readers and offer open and click rates that exceed industry averages.
In 2005, the Courier launched the monthly Spanish-language newspaper El Mensajero Católico and added a bilingual website in 2009. Because it had been distributed free in area stores, restaurants and agencies, El Mensajero was forced out of print when the COVID pandemic struck in the spring of 2020. However, its website and monthly e-newsletter continue.
RCPA also is publisher of the Official Directory of the Diocese of Rochester and provides graphic-design, newsletter and video production, and marketing services to church and other non-profit groups.
RCPA’s mission
Visit our Donate page to support the charitable mission of the Rochester Catholic Press Association.
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