Type | Bi-weekly |
---|---|
Format | Non-profit newspaper |
Owner | The National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company |
Founder | Robert Hoyt |
Editor | Thomas C. Fox |
Managing editors | Dennis Coday |
Political alignment | Left-liberalism |
Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri |
Circulation | 30,000 |
Official website | www.ncronline.org |
The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) is a newspaper in the United States, which covers topics on the Catholic Church; its circulation reaches ninety-seven countries on six continents. Based in midtown Kansas City, Missouri, NCR was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964 as an independent newspaper focusing on the Catholic Church. Hoyt wanted to bring the professional standards of secular news reporting to the Catholic press, maintaining that "if the mayor of a city owned its only newspaper, its citizens will not learn what they need and deserve to know about its affairs".[1] It has won the "General Excellence" award from the Catholic Press Association in the category of national news publications each year from 2000 through 2010.
The publication is not connected to the Church itself and is independent. Promoting a dissident liberal position, the NCR presents itself as "the only significant alternative Catholic voice that provides avenues for expression of diverse perspectives, promoting tolerance and respect for differing ideas." It was the first U.S. publication to write about homosexual abuse in the Church since Vatican II; its coverage began in 1983 and for years was virtually alone in the Catholic press in drawing attention to the problem.
In 1968, NCR's ordinary, Bishop Charles Herman Helmsing "issue[d] a public reprimand for their policy of crusading against the Church's teachings," condemning its "poisonous character" and "disregard and denial of the most sacred values of our Catholic faith." [2] Helmsing warned that NCR's writers were likely guilty of heresy, had likely incurred latae sententiae excommunications, and because the publication "does not reflect the teaching of the Church, but on the contrary, has openly and deliberately opposed this teaching," he "ask[ed] the editors in all honesty to drop the term 'Catholic' from their masthead," because "[b]y retaining it they deceive their Catholic readers and do a great disservice to ecumenism by being responsible for the false irenicism of watering down Catholic teachings."[3]
NCR refused to comply, and 66 Catholic journalists signed a statement disagreeing with the condemnation based on its "underlying definition of the legitimate boundaries of religious journalism in service to the church."[4] The Catholic Press Association reported that the dispute arose from a difference of opinion regarding the function of the press."
Since then, numerous conservative Catholic commentators have criticized the National Catholic Reporter for advocating positions contrary to Church doctrines. Among the dissenting opinions criticized include homosexuals and marriage,[5] ordination of women,[6] stem cell research,[7] and Catholic-identifying politicians who support abortion.[8]