Catholic press is a necessity

Catholics trying to function in today’s world without continuing their faith formation since leaving school have difficulty understanding faith, let alone trying to bring a Christian perspective to secular culture.

Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, made that point recently in Wilmington, Del.

In order to avoid ”faith illiteracy,” Glendon said Catholics must be given a solid foundation in their faith both in schools and through continuing religious education.

”We 21st-century Christians still have to figure out how to live out our faith in a pluralistic and secular society,” the Harvard Law professor said.

The faith illiteracy seen by Glendon is a problem not only of defending the faith but in letting others define it for us, and many times they are wrong.

Some are the annoying but not substantive misstatements in the media, the ones that grate on the ear, such as the pope was ”performing Mass” or a priest was ”taking confessions.”

Matters of our religion are coming more into everyday conversation in public and culture. We need to know why we believe as well as what we believe. There are sound philosophical and theological bases for many things that must be understood to properly understand the latest fact or news item.

Things such as marriage, annulment and divorce; same-sex marriage; the meaning of infallibility; respect for human life and the proper role of the church in public -- all of these require a background of understanding.

What makes the news is not just some arbitrary rule but something based on centuries of developing dogma.

There are theological reasons for the coming change in the liturgy; it is much more than ”rebranding.”

Background is necessary to understand the facts. The Catholic message as presented by the Catholic media is the best way to provide this.

It is ironic that Glendon’s plea for better faith formation was made in a diocese that, in the same month, announced it was shutting down the diocesan newspaper for financial reasons. A newspaper is not a luxury.

”There has been no greater and more consistent success in Catholic communications in the United States than through the use of print,” Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik said in talk at the Catholic Media Convention in Pittsburgh.

”Absolutely and fundamentally the best option ... to evangelize the evangelizers is through Catholic print,” said Bishop Zubik. No surprise, his remarks were greeted with applause from the audience of journalists.

Evangelizing the evangelizers is what it is all about. ”The job of evangelizing the culture belongs to the laity,” said Glendon, who is also president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. So the laity must have a firm understanding of the faith that must be continually updated and refreshed.

Social media -- Twitter, Facebook, blogs -- have their place but are no substitute for the permanency of the word in print.

An incorrect understanding of freedom of speech, Glendon said, is that it is for everybody ”except those trying to advance religious rights.”

”A Catholic newspaper today is not a luxury. It is a necessity,” said Bishop Zubik. ”And to my mind, at least for the moment, it remains the best vehicle for adult faith formation that we have.”