I am looking forward to April when we publish the Catholic
Courier in its new three-part format: monthly, weekly and dot.com
editions.
We have been working on this project for some time. Our gifted,
experienced and generous board members have advised us. Our pastoral
ministers have added quality to the effort by their cooperation and
helpful suggestions. The staff of the Catholic Courier has
contributed an immense amount of expertise and technical know-how. No
less importantly, all of the above have persevered in the effort, which
— like most significant endeavors — had its share of snags and
setbacks.
As we come nearer to the day when we begin this new direction, I
want to express my thanks to all who worked so hard to make it happen.
I also want you to know that the project has my full support.
I want to touch briefly on some of the reasons why I strongly
support the new Catholic Courier:
1) Our monthly edition will be delivered to every Catholic home in
our diocese. This will allow access that no other medium — print or
electronic — offers to us.
2) The monthly edition will allow more in-depth, systematic
treatment of issues, themes and questions that are relevant to Catholic
life in this day and age.
3) Our weekly edition — received with the parish bulletin — will
allow us to keep abreast of current events, and diocesan news and
activities.
4) Our weekly edition will also allow us more flexibility for
regional coverage, a feature I hope will be attractive to folks in
different sections of our diocese.
5) Later this year, our weekly edition also will allow us to
communicate on a regular basis with our vibrant Spanish-speaking
communities.
6) Our dot.com edition will allow those who enjoy the use of
computers to access the Catholic Courier 24/7. It also
recognizes that the Web rather than newspaper, radio or television has
become the primary source of news for many of our people.
7) Our dot.com edition, we dearly hope, will serve to engage the
interest of younger generations in the life of the church and in the
resource that is the Catholic Courier. Our research indicates
that, while we have a solid and loyal group of readers, our readership
is an aging one. I am convinced that our church has much to offer the
younger generation. No less am I convinced that the younger generation
has a great deal to offer to the church.
Our Synod experience indicated that the people of our diocese place
high value on life-long opportunities to grow in the knowledge, love
and service of their church.
In addition to providing information that helps us to understand and
live our faith, I hope that the renewed Catholic Courier will be
an effective vehicle of information that heightens awareness of
diocesan life and helps to achieve our common purposes. I have long
yearned for a medium that allows us to make available to every Catholic
home information about our faith and our church that is important to
all of us.
I am aware that there is no magic in this. We will have to work hard
to produce an enriching, informative, stimulating product. At the same
time, even the highest quality work will bear good fruit only to the
degree that people commit themselves to reading and thinking about what
is presented.
Please pray for God’s blessings on this initiative. Please spend
some of your precious time delving into the new product. Please
encourage others to do the same. Thanks very much.
Peace to all.
Tags: Bishop Matthew H. Clark
