From the Editor's Desk

Carrying on the legacy

In my first column, I asked you to help us better understand our readers. The response has been most heartwarming with so many taking the time to share your experience of church and community. I was particularly touched by those who have been reading NCR since its inception in 1964, when the paper sold for a mere $6 a year at 15 cents an issue. Once I have everything collated, I’ll share some of that feedback with you.

But perhaps you’d like to know more about us. Over our 43 years of publishing, the National Catholic Reporter has gone to press almost 2,000 times. And as best we can tell, the company has never missed a press date, a record we are very proud of.

Our proudest role, however, is the legacy we’ve inherited. NCR is one of the few truly independent, journalistic sources for Catholics and others who struggle with the complex moral and social issues of the day. Approximately 23 percent of the U.S. population identifies itself as Catholic, the largest religious body in this country. NCR has been steadfast over the years as an alternative Catholic voice that gave expression to diverse perspectives, promoting tolerance and respect for all.

Simply put, NCR is a religious paper with worldly interests; and though a large proportion of our reporting deals with issues of the Catholic church, the broad scope of its coverage has been about the religious, political and social forces shaping public policies and institutions. We are concerned for all people and we are committed to shaping a world that recognizes the dignity of every human being, regardless of religious belief, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other characteristics. Throughout our history, we have been a voice for the disadvantaged and the marginalized, and we have told the stories of injustice that others simply would not print. NCR has been a strong and thoughtful alternative to mainstream media.

In 2004, Bill Moyers wrote the following on the occasion of our 40th anniversary:

In Tom Stoppard’s play “Night and Day” one of the characters -- a news photographer -- says, “People do terrible things to each other, but it’s worse in places where everybody is kept in the dark.” Because a closed society cannot be a free society, the quality of journalism and the quality of democracy are inextricably bound. I believe this to be so in matters of religion, too; it is impossible for me to imagine that our Creator would find a closed mind compatible with seeking truth that sets us free.

Without the faculty of self-correction all political and religious institutions, given time, go bad. For decades now the National Catholic Reporter has been courageously committed to independent journalism whose only aim is real news -- the news we need to keep our freedom. In a time when a handful of megamedia conglomerates control more and more of what we read, see and hear, NCR remains faithful to journalism as a moral calling, obliged to get as close a possible to the verifiable truth. I would, as a citizen, be poorer without it; so would American democracy.

Again, I invite you to tell me more about yourselves as we plan for the future of NCR. You can contact me at these e-mail addresses: rita@ncronline.org or ritalarivee@ncronline.org.

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Jeanette Rodriguez has joined the board of directors of the National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company. Rodriguez is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University in Washington. She is also an adjunct graduate faculty member in the School of Theology and Ministry at the university.

Rodriguez is the author of several books and articles concentrated in the areas of U.S. Hispanic theology; theologies of liberation for the Latin American, feminist, African-American and Asian-American communities; peace and justice education; and genocide studies.

She is a member of the Academy of Hispanic Theologians in the United States, the Catholic Theological Society of America, Pax Christi, and is a clinical member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

-- Sr. Rita Larivee, SSA

National Catholic Reporter, June 22, 2007