Our Sunday Visitor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Our Sunday Visitor is a Catholic Publishing Company which prints an American national weekly newspaper, Catholic magazines and bulletin inserts, and books.[1] It was founded in 1912 as a Catholic newsweekly by Father John F. Noll, later bishop of Fort Wayne. It was the most popular Catholic newsweekly of the twentienth century[2]
Father John Francis Noll was a small town priest who had grown weary of the anti-Catholic literature and especially a widely circulated anti-Catholic paper called The Menace, decided to print a parish bulletin. The first issue of thirty-five thousand copies of Our Sunday Visitor were dated May 5, 1912. A year later the circulation of the paper had reached one hundred and sixty thousand, far beyond the parish. After World War I the circulation was up to 500,000 copies.[3]
The main initial focus of Our Sunday Visitor was to combat anti-Catholicism, help Catholics preserve their indenty, teach them about their faith and combat social injustice. A column started in 1912 called, "Father Smith Instructs Jackson," was later collected and turned into a popular book which sold millions of copies.[4]
On March 30, 1913, the paper offered a $10,000 reward for anyone who could prove the anti-Catholic charges laid against the Church. No one ever claimed the reward.[5]
In the 1930's the paper focused on how Catholic's could preserve their faith in a secular society. During the 1940's Bishop Noll's newspaper fought against the birth control, divorce, indecent literature and movies which were examined and targeted by editorials and features.[6]
During the Cold War the paper attacked aethistic communism and warned Catholics away from joining communist groups. On May 4, 1952 the fortieth anniversary issue was released. The headline on thios issue read, "They Do Not Want God in Our Schools: Secular Trend is Certain to Bring Disaster."[7]
In 1953 Bishop Noll was named Archbishop Noll by Pope Pius XII. He suffered a stroke in 1954 and he was no longer able to edit the paper. Archbishop Noll died on July 31, 1956.[8]
The paper continued being produced and continued to flourish. Today Our Suday Visitor has a full publishing wing which publishes books religious educational materials and other media.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ Founding of the Our Sunday Visitor - Catholic History.net
- ^ http://www.osv.com/AboutUsNav/OSVHistory/tabid/441/Default.aspx To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
- ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
[edit] External links
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