Our Sunday Visitor

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Our Sunday Visitor is a Roman Catholic publishing company in Huntington, Indiana which prints an American national weekly newspaper, Catholic magazines and bulletin inserts, offertory envelopes and books.[1] It was founded in 1912 as a Catholic newsweekly by Father John F. Noll, later bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was the most popular Catholic newsweekly of the twentieth century.[2]

Father John Francis Noll was a small town priest who, having grown weary of 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 Father Noll's parish. After World War I, the circulation had grown to 500,000 copies.[3]

The initial focus of Our Sunday Visitor was to combat anti-Catholicism, help Catholics preserve their identity, teach Catholics about their faith, and combat social injustice. A column started in 1912, called "Father Smith Instructs Jackson," was later collected 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 1930s, Our Sunday Visitor focused on how Catholics could preserve their faith in a secular society. During the 1940s, Bishop Noll's newspaper took positions against birth control, divorce, indecent literature, and movies.[6]

During the Cold War, the paper attacked atheistic communism and warned Catholics away from joining communist groups. On May 4, 1952, the fortieth anniversary issue of Our Sunday Visitor was released. The headline on this 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. Archbishop Noll suffered a stroke in 1954 and was no longer able to edit Our Sunday Visitor. Archbishop Noll died on July 31, 1956.[8]

After Archbishop Noll's death, the paper continued to be produced and to flourish. Today, Our Sunday Visitor has a full publishing wing which publishes books, religious educational materials, and other media.[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  2. ^ Founding of the Our Sunday Visitor - Catholic History.net
  3. ^ http://www.osv.com/AboutUsNav/OSVHistory/tabid/441/Default.aspx To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  4. ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  5. ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  6. ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  7. ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  8. ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company
  9. ^ To Serve the Church: The Story of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company

[edit] External links

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