The Catholic Sentinel is, according to its masthead, the "Oldest Catholic Newspaper on the West Coast." A weekly publication, it is sent out every Wednesday to subscribers and is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland and the Diocese of Baker. It is published by the Oregon Catholic Press.
The Oregon Catholic Press also publishes El Centinela, a Spanish-language version of the Sentinel.
The Catholic Sentinel was started in a response to Anti-Catholicism in 1870 by Henry Herman and J.F. Atkinson. After the Whitman massacre in 1847, a Protestant minister had accused local Catholics of inciting a band of Cayuse Indians to killing 10 Protestant missionaries. The first run of the Catholic Sentinel was 500 copies, and a year's subscription cost $4. By 1995, circulation had grown to 15,000 copies.