The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1957-02-01
Press at New High
CONTINUED from Page y


ward out of anything he reads on
ly in proportion to the compe-
tence he brings TO the reading.
This is doubly true of religious
reading of all kinds.
The reason why many of us
find the reading of our Catholic
publications boring, therefore,
cannot be found in the fact that
the matter they contain is unin-
teresting in itself As matter
of fact it is just as interesting as
what we read in secular publica-
tions. The secret Of our boredom
lies in our lack of sound interest
in the things of our Faith and our
Church, The plain fact is that
many of us, even those of us who
possess a Catholic college educa-
tion, long ago permitted our
knowledge OF the Faith to grow
dim and consequently ceased to
concern ourselves with the things
of religion outside our own i'm.
mediate circles. We have not
built up the structure of our
knowledge and interest. We have,
on the contrary, permitted it to
crumble away.
The purpose OF our Catholic
press is not merely 10 amuse Us
or satisfy our curiosity. II il
were 10 aim st no more than
that in would be useless. II
must inform US, not merely
with the news of what Is going
on in this great Catholic Church
Of ours but with instruetionai
and informative materisl,
which will add TO the sum OF
our religious knowledge and
guide Us toward . solution Of
the moral problems of our day,
personal, social, economic, po-
litical and religious.
If we discover that the relig-
iouS publications of today do not
excite our interest, then we might
we'll indulge in some soul-Search-
ing during Catholic Press Month
to discover why our religious
sense has atrophied. The Catholic
press should be for us our school
after school. When our formal re-
/ ligious education is done, no mat
ter al what level, our Caholic
newspapers, magazines, reviews,
/ pamphlets and books will con
| tinue to teach us truth and moral
values all the days of our lives
IL we but read them.
To this point We have consider
ed what Catholic literature can do
/ for us. Catholic PressMonth must
also set us thinking about what
we can do for the development
and distribution of the products
of our press. Three simple but
effective ways we can help sug
gest themselves, which we would
like to share with you.
In the first place II you have
the competence, you can write
articles for our papers and mag
axines or books with Catholic
historical. philosophical or spir-
itusi purpose. N again you pos
ssss journalistic skiiis and sx.
perienee, why not enter the
field of Catholic iournatisn7 In
either case you will Join that
wonderful legion OF dedicated
men and women 10 whom we
owe the present high state OF
our Catholic press.
Again, in addition to being
regular reader of your diocesan
paper (and others If you wish, o
the magazines and periodicals In
dicated by your tastes, your edu
cation or your profession, an'
books of fiction or non-fiction
you can aid effectively TO incress'
the circulation of Catholic liter
ature. You will do this in vari
ETY. of ways. You will aid you
pastor and the circulation man
ager of your diocesan newspape
to make effective the parish plal
or whatever other local diocesal
method of circulation is favore'
by your bishop. You will strive Z
make known among your friend
and associates some of the fin