| Type | Weekly |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati |
| Publisher | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati |
| Founded | October 1831 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Sister newspapers | Der Wahrheitsfreund |
| Official website | www.thecatholictelegraph.com |
The Catholic Telegraph is a newspaper published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which covers the Cincinnati metropolitan area, the greater Dayton area and other communities in the southwest region of Ohio, with a total diocesan population of approximately 500,000. The Telegraph is described on its official website as the oldest continuously-published Catholic diocesan newspaper in the United States.
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The Telegraph was established in October 1831 by Bishop Edward Fenwick, O.P., the Archdiocese's first bishop. The paper's use of the word "telegraph" predated the invention of the communication device by over a decade. As one of the first Catholic newspapers in the nation, the Telegraph was sold in cities throughout the country's middle section, including Louisville, Kentucky, Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Missouri, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1]
Early in the episcopal reign of John Baptist Purcell, the Telegraph fell into significant financial difficulties. As its closure appeared imminent, large numbers of common Catholics formed the Roman Catholic Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge, with its primary purpose being the rescue of the Telegraph. Their goal being accomplished, the Society's success became famous throughout the American Catholic Church, and a similar organization, patterned after the one in Cincinnati, was established in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.[2]:180 From 1837 to 1907, the Telegraph had a German-language sister publication, known as Der Wahrheitsfreund; it was the county's first Catholic periodical published in German.[2]:183
Under Archbishop Purcell, who emphasized the "prudential motives" that made the abolition of slavery inadvisable, the Telegraph condemned slavery but opposed Abolitionism.[3] In an editorial, the Telegraph condemned the New Orleans Catholic newspaper, Le Propagateur Catholique for running an advertisement about a mulatre who was available for rent or sale.[3] The Telegraph opined that "It is not necessary to be an abolitionist... to condemn a practice so repugnant to Catholic feeling."[3] In April, 1861, the month the Civil War started, the Telegraph continued to urge accommodation with the slave states so strongly that an abolitionist, Unionist bishop condemned the editorial stance as "aid of treason."[3]