Did you know that the world is catechizing you every day? It is.
In our 24-7 digital news age we are constantly bombarded with an increasingly secular and anti-Christian worldview. Ironically, now that it’s most needed, it’s easy for the Catholic voice—the voice bringing Christ’s light, truth and hope to a world in darkness—to get drowned out.
Catholic media vital
In his Jan. 24 message for World Communication’s Day, Pope Francis noted that in today’s fast-paced society: “The world of communications can help us either to expand our knowledge or to lose our bearings.”
The pontiff explained that “communication is a means of expressing the missionary vocation of the entire Church”—which is to evangelize: to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
He added: “The Church needs to be concerned for, and present in, the world of communication, in order to dialogue with people today and to help them encounter Christ. She needs to be a Church at the side of others, capable of accompanying everyone along the way.”
In other words, the world needs Catholic media.
“The revolution taking place in communications media and in information technologies represents a great and thrilling challenge,” Pope Francis continued, “may we respond to that challenge with fresh energy and imagination as we seek to share with others the beauty of God.”
Register successes
In just a few days, on the feast of St. Patrick, March 17, the Denver Catholic Register will mark its 114th year serving the Gospel. That’s why our flag is green today instead of Register red, we’re showing our Irish roots on our birthday! At this time, we thought we’d share with you some of the fresh and imaginative ways the Register fulfilled its mission to “inform, inspire and engage” you with the Gospel and Christ’s Church over the last year:
* Hosted the Catholic Press Association’s 2013 conference, which gathered more than 200 Catholic journalists, and featured keynotes by Father Robert Barron and Mother Dolores Hart.
* Won three Catholic Press Association Awards for our 64-page issue on the installation of Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila; our local coverage of the Aurora theater shooting “Archbishop to faithful: Evil will not have the last word”; and for “Miss Olympic medalist: Missy Franklin.”
* Launched our new dynamic, inter-active website: www.DenverCatholicRegister.org, which allows us to offer you more news, faster!
* Promoted and covered the 20th anniversary celebration of Denver’s 1993 World Youth Day and visit of Pope John II with an in-depth six-week series on the event the pontiff called “a revolution.”
* Chronicled the unexpected papal transition from Benedict XVI’s retirement to Pope Francis’ installation with comprehensive special sections.
* Increased our social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. A recent Facebook campaign promoting marriage reached more than 26,000 people!
* Garnered national attention with our timely reporting on the 100-year floods in northern Colorado, and the legal battle of the Little Sisters of the Poor against the HHS mandate.
* Continued to offer commentary and opinion columns by national and local experts, such as George Weigel and Chris Stefanick, to help you and your family know and live your faith!
Join the Mission
Currently, we’re in the midst our annual Join the Mission drive, in which we invite readers who value the Register to voluntarily contribute the subscription cost, which most readers get for free by virtue of parish membership. We invite you to prayerfully consider “joining the mission” by donating the $35 a year cost. (Read how to join at www.DenverCatholicRegister.org.)
Last year, thanks to your support, Join the Mission raised $25,000, which helped to make our recent successes possible.
This year, for the first time, Register staffers are making parish visits as part of Join the Mission. We’d like to thank St. Thomas More Church in Centennial for their hospitality and generosity to us on March 9, our first parish visit. We are looking forward to visiting St. Joan of Arc Church in Arvada on March 16.
Whether you aid us with your prayers or with your monetary donations, your support helps us to continue to provide in-depth and timely coverage of local Catholic issues and events, and to expand our presence online and in social media. It keeps our vital Catholic voice strong and our proud legacy alive.
We look forward to continuing together with you our joint mission to “inform, inspire and engage” the faithful of northern Colorado in this 114th year of the Denver Catholic Register!
Roxanne King is editor of the Denver Catholic Register. Reach her at: 303-715-3215 or editor@archden.org or www.twitter.com/DCRegisterRox.
