By Gerard E. Sherry

The Catholic Press should be judged by that which should make it Catholic horizons which not only girdle the globe, but also reach back through all history and forward to the unending glory of heaven; revealed truths which unlock mysteries and give sure guidance; divine strength, promised and delivered; strength which should give an astral calm and an assured deliberation; these are the things which we bring as Catholics into journalism. This is our mountain, and from all evidence we do labor. But what a mouse emerges!

The boundaries of any urban parish would seem large compared to the little field we tend. Some editors are so nervous that they jump at any boo coming from any little Poauer, or other bigot. One senatorial generalization sets us in a tizzy. But our worse crime is the constant effort to reduce the majestic truths of God to the tiny dimensions of our own cramped craniums. We have yet to resolve (some of us, at least) to grow up as Catholics and as journalist. This is certainly so in our handling of the civic community.

The proper function of a diocesan newspaper in relation to the civic community has, I suggest, been studiously ignored by some editors, many readers and quite a number of Catholic publishers.

Pope Paul VI has reminded us all “it is not necessary for a Catholic newspaper to limit itself to publishing religious news and comments; nor must it artificially stress its confessional and apologetic character to the detriment of its primary function of information.”

Yet, there are two approaches which tend to satisfy the consciences of some; one is that of aiming for and attracting a national readership (at the expense of local) with all kinds of “name” columnists pontificating weekly on all kinds of topics. These papers have some room left for news and editorials, but not much.

The second approach is to load up the paper with items better suited to the gossip and social columns of the local dailies. The externals of diocesan and parochial societies and groups are published. The carnivals, the bingos, the benefits, the dances, etc., are given prominence over problems of poverty, injustices and indifferentism.

But in both approaches, the presence in the diocese, and therefore in the community of a vast, dynamic stream of Christian influence and Christian action is ignored or found uninteresting. The inroads of secularism have reached into our editorial rooms to such an extent that the words “apostolate” and “social” are two separate entities. Yet we have been taught that the apostolate is the social expression of sanctity. That sanctity is vital and social -- it is the apostolate. And our press work is one of the most important and effective means of this apostolate.

In 1954, Pope Pius XII told members of the Italian Catholic publishers’ association that the duty and honor of the press, particularly the Catholic press, was “to enlighten, nourish and elevate minds and hearts.” We might ask ourselves whether either of these two approaches I have mentioned, fit the bill.

This topic covers the diocesan weekly as a community newspaper. And I would suggest that to be successful, the diocesan weekly must be just that. It must be a part of the life of the community in every locality.

It must strive to have at least as much influence. It must be the representative mouthpiece of all Christian thinking and information; it must protect the vital interests of Christians in a community, both in their work and leisure -- in their education, in their growth. It must fight for the reform of any conditions which are a denial of the dignity of man or an obstacle to his progress.

But that is not all -- the religious newspaper in striving for the good of the Church within the community, must also fight and work for the common good -- this includes Catholics, Protestants, Jews; it includes Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Chinese, Japanese and any other race color or creed within the community. We have a strict obligation to work for the protection and assistance of everyone so that he may enjoy a right and reasonable life.

To this requires that the Catholic weekly newspaper become more than a gossip sheet -- more than a pictorial presentation of the glamour girls of sodalities -- it must express Christian conscience both in its news and editorial columns.

It must express social consciences - not a political one. A social conscience which is the apostolate of the Catholic press. A conscience which cries out against any injustice to any man and preaches and practices charity towards all.

To express this social conscience -- we assume it has a spiritual one -- the paper must take a lively interest in local and state problems. The state legislature must be recognized for what it is and can do for the good or evil of citizens. The legislators, too, must be known, watched, praised, chastised as the case may be. The same goes for those who rule or govern on a local level.

Through the columns of Catholic newspapers a civic sense has to be fostered -- that is the awareness of rights and duties in civic society. Catholics must be encouraged to be good citizens as well as good football players, good carnival organizers or bingo winners.

The Catholic weekly newspaper has an obligation to assist its readers to conquer life itself -- to change their own lives and the lives of their neighbors -- so that nothing in their lives escapes the Christian influence. And when we talk of the conquest of life, we must mean the whole of life -- the physical, intellectual, religious, moral, sentimental, cultural, social.

It is also a conquest of environment, of that whole complex of habits, customs, conventions, values and social institutions which are the framework in which the individual life is lived and which is a most potent influence on him. These are the things which, when presented in a Catholic newspaper, make it a necessity in the spiritual and material struggle going on in every community in the country.

How do we go about achieving this community spirit through a diocesan weekly?

First of all, I think, by stressing the fact that we are all witnesses. The whole Mystical Body is called to be witnesses. Witnesses to what He is - Witnesses to His will as He has revealed it.

Through this first step, the majority of Catholic Press readers -- the laity -- become aware of their part in the witnessing work of the Church. This is simply a continuation of one of the many services a diocese provides for the parochial clergy. The priests in the parish stress the obligation to bear witness and the laity are counseled to do their witnessing in the world.

But in encouraging and fostering witnesses we should, I think, beware of following false concepts in modern Catholic activity. There are two which have been constantly rejected by the popes. One is what can be called “pure spirituality” and the other “political Catholicism.”

The first is an attitude of escapism -- the confining of the Church to a purely “spiritual” mission, to the fostering of religion divorced from life, in the hope that somehow, with the intensification of devotion within the Catholic body, social evils may be made to disappear of themselves. Political Catholicism, on the other hand, results from an opposite misconception of the role of the Church in society, in the community. Christ’s Kingdom is not temporal; the Church is not a political party. She cannot achieve her aims through successes of political parties. The kingdom of God cannot be brought about by unreal dreams of a sort of theocracy.

Our objects as Catholic editors must be to steer clear of these two errors -- to restore Christian values to the whole of life. Yet, if we look at Catholic papers today, we do find in many a lopsided emphasis one way or the other.

Some of our papers have no news and are all instruction. Some prefer to have the minimum of instruction and are more or less propaganda sheets for the social or political causes the editors and (in some cases) the publishers have in their hearts. It is amazing to the think that some of our editors would prefer to quote a United States senator on morality of Communism rather than their own bishop or some other member of the hierarchy. It shocks, too, to realize that many editors treat such subjects as “Right To Work,” “Medicare,” and “Welfare Aid” less on a moral plane than they do a political one. Even social encyclicals of the popes are used only when they can be quoted to conform to particular political programs. The fact remains, some Catholic newspapers (admittedly there are in a minority) are not as Catholic as they are political in editorial orientation.

So, too, some Catholic newspapers do not express through their editorial stance that diversity of opinion (outside of faith and morals) which is permitted within the Church. Catholic newspaper publishers or Catholic editors who deliberately deprive their readers of “the other side” in a controversy are guilty of stifling Holy Liberty in an area where it needs to be expanded, of course, many times one finds that the answer of such publishers or editors is that “silence is dictated in the interests of the Church.” Alas history proves that where injustice is involved in the interests of the Church are never served by perpetuating it. The public image of the Church is often harmed by the over-slanted bearing of some Catholic weekly newspapers. The frequent criticism of the conservative Catholic press is more than justified. Among the group of Catholic newspapers which preach bedrock conservatism, there are some which stifle completely any liberal expression. A grave injustice is thereby inflicted on the many readers who do not agree with the editorial policies expressed. They are, as it were, de-franchised readers and subscribers, deprived of a voice in public opinion within the Church. It is in areas where the Catholic press does not express diversity of opinions that one finds virulent communities where the Catholic newspaper may well have a liberal or conservative policy but preaches diversity of opinion, Catholic and political action is less belligerent and more effective.

It is the over-stress on the political at the expense of “A Catholic View” which tends to destroy a Catholic paper’s influence in the community. There are many things within a community which, while having political overtones, are of concern to the Churchland, are vital to the spiritual welfare of citizens.

The poor, the needy, housing, roads, schools, hospitals, taxes, bond issues -- indeed a host of local problems which are as much the concern of the diocesan weekly as they are of the secular dailies and weeklies. And why? Simply because we are concerned with the whole of life. We are concerned with the joys and sorrows of our neighbors -- the charity and justice we preach is not the right solely of our Catholic brethren -- it is the right of all men, all families -- in our sphere of action.

A Catholic paper’s influence is not gauged by the way it presents the current news, for it has not the news nor the technical facilities which give the press its power. The Catholic paper has influence through its policies, its inspiration and brings everything under the penetrating beam of the faith. We do not always have to speak about religion -- but we will speak religiously about everything and everyone.

The Catholicity of a diocesan newspaper will not be judged by how loud it shouts about Communism -- how it loud it shrieks for the emancipation of the laity. The chains that bind the laity are, in the main, of their own choosing. And those that shout loudest against Communism are often those who also want to isolate the United States from the rest of humanity, including some of them our fellow citizens who happen to be Negroes or Jews.

It is obvious that to be a real community paper, the diocesan weekly must recognize that there is a hierarchy of values -- that the news must be placed in proper focus. It is basically a problem for editors. A problem which cries out for serious study of current affairs in the light of Catholic social principles. Finally, it requires editors to see in their neighbors, their readers, all the human longings for peace and happiness. These are things accomplished only through God - we are His mere instruments - blunt or otherwise.