This publisher’s note was going to be very different. A draft began like this: “We are praying for a miracle. The Register’s current financial situation is so bleak that, barring the unforeseen, the next issue of the Register will be its last.”
What happened? Well, we had been praying for a miracle. What we got was a whole series of miracles, one after another, so fast-moving that some were simultaneous.
The Legion of Christ had reached the conclusion that it could no longer subsidize the Register. The decision was made in November to close the paper in December. The funds to take it into January, much less the rest of the year, were simply not there.
Within days, I received a letter from Archbishop Chaput of Denver saying that he had been approached by persons he admires who had an interest in acquiring the Register!
The “coincidences” are amazing. First, Denver is where the Register was born in 1927. Second, the archbishop’s chancellor is Fran Maier, the highly respected editor of the Register in its later years in Los Angeles. Third, the archbishop was the apostolic visitor to the Legionaries of Christ in the U.S., and so had a thorough understanding of the financial situation of the Legion, and consequently of the Register.
So, the one bishop who could best understand the Register’s “long legacy and fidelity to the Church” (his words to me) was also the one who best understood how easily that legacy could be lost. And, fourth, he also happened to be a board member of the one organization that could continue the Register’s long legacy and fidelity to the Church. Amazing.
From the first moment, negotiations with Michael Warsaw and EWTN were open and cordial and based on the Legion’s and EWTN’s desire to preserve the Register’s service for the sake of the Church.
Simultaneously, a new donor approached us who wanted to prevent a catastrophic forced shutdown of the Register. This enabled us to pay some of our debts, keep producing the Register during the month of January, and hand the paper over to EWTN’s tutelage without skipping a beat — or at least an issue. So, how many miracles is that?
I respect and admire the editors, writers, designers, staff, advertisers, vendors, donors and readers who have made the Register what it has become over these past 15 years. Together we managed to create something the Church values. Thank you. God bless you abundantly. You taught me so much!
It has been fun. I’ll miss that.
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I used to love EWTN and the network was instrumental in the early years of my entering the Christian faith. Although I still watch the network fairly regularly, I have been concerned for the last few years that they have become somewhat turned-in to a “catholic culture” which at first seems holy and attractive, but does not seem to have the same openness, and seems to be losing touch with the poverty of spirit necessary, I think, to preserve a well-rounded Catholic perspective. That there is so much emphasis on living the well-to-do, successful life in America as a Catholic, seems to leave out those of us who are struggling, suffering, or having a difficult time while still being faithful to the Church and Christ’s teachings. It does seem to me that this heavy focus on the modern spirit of being a success in a worldly fashion, usually after time, leads individuals and groups into error. This same kind of spirit, in my opinion, may well have been a catalyst for the disasters that befell the Legion of Christ. It does seem the group here in my city has really no time or heart for anyone who struggles in the world. The heresy which promotes a “prosperity gospel” seems to be an incubator for self-love, judgment of the poor, and what amounts to, in fact, a turning away from the true Cross of Jesus, which involves real suffering and denying the seductions of wealth and power. The fact that EWTN is taking over a Legion of Christ publication just leaves me a little more concerned about the direction of the network and what seems to be a pull toward a narrower interest, focused on worldly success and a natural progression, therefore, to unwittingly foster a disdain for the poor. Will keep watching and reading and hoping and praying that the love of mammon does not gain souls that have started such a good work and will not lure anyone away from our one true goal of Heaven. May God bless.
Thank you Father Kearns for all you have done.
Thank you, Fr. Owen! Many miracles indeed!
A significant voice for our church will be silent if the demise of the NCR should come to pass. Let us pray not. I am a subscriber and will miss all of it, but in particular those articles which illuminate me and others on what our beliefs are and what are just simple myths people hold on to. You’ll prevail NRC!!
God bless you Father in your work. May he continue to show the way forward to all the faithful Legion priests who seek His Will.
You are a great man of God Fr.Owen and it will be exciting to watch how He uses your talents and the talents of the others at this great paper in the near future. Don’t hold your breath too long. He wont!
In Christ,
Dave Craig
Thank you EWTN for yet another miracle! It is my personal hope that the Catholic Register will once again return to a weekly publication. As a household of senior citizens, we looked forward to our newspaper so much. No sooner had we sent in our three year subscription when the Register stopped publishing weekly and went to an internet format which is unacceptable for our age group. Hopefully yet another miracle will take place and we can return to the pleasures of yesteryear.
I am so happy such a terrific paper will remain informing Catholics what is going on around the world regarding our faith. I pray for the LC and all the good work they can do around the world. We are all sinners and so was their founder, but let us remember in whose family tree God decided to become a human so He could save the human race, King David’s, an adulterer and murderer. Why did David merit such prestige? Because he repented for his past behavior, which is exactly what we are all called to do. This is just another lesson in transparency, it is better to confess our wrongdoings rather than try to cover them up.
My only question is; when are we going to start giving Mother Angelica the credit she deserves?, and start recognizing her for the saint that she is. With $250 and a prophetic vision she started the new evangelization before it was even named.
Thank you to Fr. Kearns and to the Legion of Christ for guiding and producing such a wonderful apostolate. The Register has provided me and my community with world news, orthodox catholicism, and spiritual support for years. We are sad to see it pass from the Legions hands but glad to see that the Register will continue to come to our door and inform and inspire us. Thank you again and God Bless.
JMJ † I don’t have the financial difficulties you have, Thank God. I’m just struggling with the problem of renewing my subscription (I Thank God that some of his people are answering his Call to them to help with the work of NCRegister) I Love reading the NCRegister. I’ll have to make a couple of payments to renew my subscription, I’ll probably miss an edition. At least I know it will be printed still, Through God’s graces. Thank you NCRegister. Respectfully with Love, Joseph J. Pippet
Look up the word “miracle” and you’ll find you have not found miracles. It’s just business as usual, when things go right.
Thank you so much father Owen. I appreciate the positive tone and the charitable way in which news is reported in the NCR. Not only were the stories informative but the manner in which they were reported was instructive. I also loved the letters to the Editor, especially those that brought us back to that spirit of charity in speech that is so hard to cultivate in these days. I hope we all keep that in mind. I know that the Legionaries make many sacrifices in order to advance the Kingdom. I am eternally grateful.
Ross, say what? I have been watching EWTN faithfully for the past 4 years - I rarely watch anything else on television - and do not know where these accusations of yours come from. Prosperity gospel? I don’t know where you are getting these ideas, but I have never heard this “prosperity gosepl” preached anywhere on EWTN! In fact, the “prosperity gospel” is an evangelical movement that has taken some segments of our Protestant brethren by storm. Shows like Journey Home, Women of Grace, Life on the Rock . . . only strict adherence to Rome and the Gospel of our precious Jesus Christ here! Maybe you better recheck the channel you are connecting to, because I do not think it is EWTN!
Reply to Ross: God bless you as you struggle in your personal circumstances! It is difficult when the world—secular and sometimes Christian—denigrates any poverty, spiritual or physical. But I would disagree with your assessment of EWTN. I don’t have any TV connection (cable, dish, etc) because I choose not to; I thank God I can listen to the local radio affiliate of EWTN.
Because of EWTN programs I have become aware of those organizations that work with the poor, for example, Fr Benedict Groeschel’s Franciscan Friars, who work in my old New York City neighborhood, and the Missionaries of the Poor in Haiti. Far from exalting the prosperity gospel, I believe EWTN, like NCR, offer Catholics opportunities to become aware of the least of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Both EWTN programs and NCR articles generally have addresses or web links for us Catholics to financially support the poor through these groups.
If any in your city are less than helpful, please seek out committed Catholics who indeed live the love of the poor found in the Gospel. May God place them in your path.
I am grateful that EWTN will continue NCR - there are precious few worthy, dependably Catholic news sources, and I am grateful for both!
Padre, I pray that those who are no longer with NCR find work to fit their great talents. I hope you teach and I regret I can’t be in the front row. I hope someday soon we can again break a little bread together and perhaps share a little vino or something a bit stronger. Miss you, Bob
I’m glad that EWTN has assumed the work of the NCR. And I disagree that EWTN has lost some of its magic on some people. I think that EWTN has changed, mostly due to Sr. Angelica’s illness, but the network still produces the same shows, only with one different host, Fr. Paqwa. There will be only one Sr. Angelica just as there is only one Fr. Owen.
Don’t worry Ross (the first post), EWTN will be a great fit for the Register. Over the past 15 years the Register has done an admirable job covering world trends from a Catholic perspective and EWTN will continue that tradition. The achilles heal for the Legion-owned era of NCRegister was the coverup and false reporting related to the founder of the religious order that sponsored the publication. That—moreso than the economic downturn—are what led to its sale.
Praise be to God.
Fr. Owen, you were a godsend to the National Catholic Register. Thank you for your tireless and superb commitment to educating the faithful. We thank you and the Legion of Christ for your humility and straight-forwardness. You appear to be seeking God’s will in this difficult time. We as lay Catholics can’t overlook the good the Legion has done. We also can’t overlook the sins of your Founder, but we know God can bring good out of anything!!! God Bless You!!!!!!
This is wonderful news that the Register continues to survive. Congratulations to EWTN on this excellent acquisition.
God Bless you both.
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