At this time each year we at Rhode Island Catholic ask our loyal readers to consider making a generous donation to our annual Christmas Appeal. The donations received go a long way in supporting one of the nation’s oldest diocesan newspapers as it continues its longstanding mission to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Providence when so many other papers have been shuttered forever in recent years due to a lack of necessary resources.
Diocesan newspapers rely heavily on paid subscriptions and strong advertising revenue to stay in business. While Rhode Island Catholic is blessed to also receive a generous subsidy from the diocese to help fund its operations, it is still challenging to keep up with the rising costs not only associated with printing and mailing the newspaper to all our subscribers’ homes, but also to pay freelance reporters and photographers to help our very small staff gather content to publish.
In the new year we very much look forward to beginning a new partnership with OSV News, produced by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, based in Huntington, Indiana. With Catholic News Service ceasing its domestic operations at the end of December, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has given its blessing to the newly formed national and international wire service, which aims to become the preeminent provider of Catholic content in the world.
Along with providing weekly national and international news for its subscribers to include in their own publications, OSV News is partnering with Catholic News Service’s award-winning Rome bureau for Vatican-related content. It will also feature in-depth, long-form pieces that focus on critical issues of the day within our Church and culture, along with features and movie reviews, and promises excellent commentary on events in the Church and beyond.
But a necessary, high-quality resource such as this also comes at a significant cost. Although OSV News will be slightly less expensive than our existing wire service subscription, it will still cost Rhode Island Catholic more than $25,000 a year to access, based on the size of the diocese’s Catholic population.
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, D.D., publisher of Rhode Island Catholic, has said that Rhode Island Catholic, through its nearly 148-year history, continues to play a unique role in the evangelization efforts of the Diocese of Providence, as it features news and information about the Church at home and abroad, while it also serves as an important and useful source of information for parishes, schools and organizations.
Enclosed in this edition is an envelope in which you can mail your contributions to Rhode Island Catholic. We are most grateful for any support that you can provide through a special gift to our Christmas Appeal and wish each of you and your families a Blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Please help support your diocesan newspaper. Click here to make a donation to Rhode Island Catholic's Christmas Appeal.
