Catholic News Sources

Oct 1

October 3rd, 2021

The vast majority of Catholics in America do not get their news about the Church from Catholic news outlets. Rather, like the vast majority of all Americans, Catholics get their news from internet news sites, television news, or their local newspaper. This is a problem. I can’t tell you how many times in the last 20 years I’ve seen a headline about something Catholic that is misleading at best. We must remember that news outlets exist to make a profit, and some of them make big profits. How they make profits is not by running detailed and balanced stories, but by running splashy ones. Hey, splash sells newspapers and makes you tune into that TV program.

Here’s an example. About 11 years ago the European Union was attempting to come up with a constitution for itself. The bishops of Europe got together and wrote up a long-winded series of suggestions for the politicians to consider such as Europe’s Christian heritage and how that heritage made Europe possible as a continent of law abiding nations. The headline in Europe’s papers: “Catholic Church Hung up on Sex” – huh? That’s because in the 500 page document the bishops submitted to the policy makers who were coming up with the E.U.’s constitution, there was one page on the consequences of a society that rejects the natural law of procreation – abortion, children born out of wedlock, etc. Now you tell me who’s hung up on sex, the Church or these media hounds selling headlines? But for the average Catholic and non-Catholic, this headline or the story under it is all the news on this issue they’re going to get and it’s terribly unbalanced.

Inform yourself. Every week, or at least monthly, read news on what’s going on in the Catholic Church. When it comes to the Catholic Church; do not get your news from a headline. Be responsible and get your news from Catholic organizations that will tell you the whole story without the need for a splashy and misleading headline. Below are some that I recommend and a few I don’t.

Some goods Catholic news sources you can find on the internet or radio:

The Pillar, Catholic News Agency, The National Catholic Register, EWTN, Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic Culture News, Spirit Daily, First Things, Life Site News, One Peter Five, and Catholic Radio 88.3FM KVBM.

Here are some bad Catholic news sources that stand with the spirit of the age against what Christ and his disciples have always taught:

America Magazine, US Catholic, National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal.

In the past month, Pope Francis said that constant attacks on him by “a large Catholic television channel” were “the work of the devil.” Many have taken this quote to mean that EWTN, the world’s largest and most influential Catholic media outlet, is itself a “work of the devil”. I include an article about it here because I think it is an important Catholic news item that you should know of; a news item that the headlines largely missed, but that you would have known about if you read good Catholic news sources.

May God Abundantly Bless You,

The Pope vs. EWTN: too hot to handle?
By Phil Lawler| Sep 22, 2021

Last week I wrote about censorship, and how “discerning readers need to find their own trusted sources of news.” This week I’ll be a bit more specific, and say that Catholic readers (or non-Catholics interested in developments within the Church) need to find their own trusted sources for Catholic news.

To present my case, let me introduce Exhibit A: our headline story from yesterday: Pope rips EWTN ‘work of the devil’. That story is unique, in several different ways.

As I write, on Wednesday afternoon, that headline—posted a bit more than 24 hours ago—has been downloaded from our site almost 65,000 times. To put that figure in context, it is highly unusual for any of our news stories to attract more than 5,000 readers, and only a handful of our stories have ever reached the 10,000 mark. The 65,000 figure is unprecedented, and since the story is still attracting readers at a dizzying rate (35 more since I started this paragraph), it is headed much higher.

Why so much interest in this headline? First because it is an important story; more about that later. Second because nobody else is telling the story.

Pope Francis made an extraordinary charge against an important American Catholic media outlet. The secular media aren’t particularly excited about it, because they see this as “inside ball,” of interest only to Catholics. But most Catholic media outlets are also studiously downplaying the story—or handling it ever-so gently, diplomatically downplaying the clear implications of the Pope’s remarks—because they are anxious to avoid controversy. With a few exceptions, the important Catholic outlets are controlled by bishops, by major donors, or both; they are leery of any story that might upset their patrons. So the stories go uncovered.

Among the outlets that handle Catholic news, then, only a few are willing to plunge into a controversial story. EWTN is one of them. And—forgive me for tooting my own horn—Catholic World News is another. We avoid sensationalism, but when the story itself is sensational, we won’t shrink from it.

And this story is sensational. Has any other Roman Pontiff ever complained about negative media coverage? A politician might fret over unfriendly editorials; the Vicar of Christ should not. During his exchange with Jesuits in Slovakia the Pope not only showed an extraordinary sensitivity to criticism, but picked a fight with what is probably the most powerful and influential Catholic media presence in the world.

EWTN owes its spectacular success to the evangelical zeal of its founder, Mother Angelica, but also to her independent spirit. Under her guidance, EWTN flourished because it gave viewers and listeners what they wanted: not prepackaged “safe” news and views, but lively reporting and commentary.

Pope Francis charged that the “large Catholic television channel” (which he does not name) “has no hesitation in continually speaking ill of the Pope.” It is true that many analysts appearing on the network—myself among them—have criticized the Pope’s actions and statements. But I have always done my best to express my concerns respectfully, showing due deference both to the man and to his Petrine office. I have no doubt that every regular ETWN host and guest would say the same thing.

It should be possible to express disagreement with the words of a Roman Pontiff—especially one as talkative as Francis—without being charged with doing the work of the devil. There is a particular irony when that charge comes from a Pontiff who has said that he encourages free debate, who has encouraged young Catholics to hagan lio (make a mess), who urges creative thought and the decentralization of authority.

To compound the irony, as he expanded his focus to encompass unnamed clerics as well as the unnamed television channel, Pope Francis lamented that his critics “make judgments without entering into a real dialogue.” Has Pope Francis entered into dialogue with Cardinal Burke about the dubia? Did he engage in dialogue with Cardinal Müller before unceremoniously dumping him from the prefecture of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith? Did he invite dialogue with traditionalist Catholics before condemning what he, in this same exchange in Slovakia—characterized as “the automatism of the ancient rite?”

A Roman Pontiff should not fear honest critiques from loyal Catholics. And Catholic media outlets should not fear exploring controversy. “The truth is like a lion,” St. Augustine said. “You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”