Opening up the Register’s digital vaults

The Catholic Register has launched a new web archive feature that gives readers access to more than two decades of online articles available to browse directly from its official website. 

Having officially finished importing its complete online archive, the Register’s new feature allows for articles dating as far back as 2006 to be found and read virtually at catholicregister.org. 

Previously, articles that were published before 2018 were not only hard to find but nearly impossible to browse accurately, with some completely unsearchable due to their stored location on a former website. 

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Following the launch of the new Catholic Register site in early 2025, and enhanced by a recent rewrite, an import method was developed which has allowed for the full archive of web articles to be brought over to the current site.

Now, every article the Register has published online since 2006 is available, complete with a full-text search that covers the entire archive.

Catholic Register Editor Mickey Conlon sees that, in a world moving to a more digital sphere, it's the way to go.

"In a digital world, you have to keep up, and this is another example of what we at The Catholic Register have been doing in recent years," said Conlon. "We've made a conscious effort to expand our digital footprint and this is our next step." 

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To access the new archives, readers can click on the calendar icon on the top right of the Register’s homepage, next to the donate tab. There, a new “browse” page gives users the option to flip through the older material chronologically, both by year and month. 

As of this month, 31,744 unique Catholic Register articles have been uploaded and are ready to be read through the new web archive feature, as regular article posting continues for content produced this year. 

James Zammit, The Catholic Register’s director of operations, shared his thoughts on the addition and what it means for today’s loyal readers.

“The new web archive is a wonderful opportunity to make the history and wealth of content in The Catholic Register more accessible to our readers. It also complements our digital edition archives, which extend back to the founding of the Register in 1893,” he said. 

“Together, these resources give readers the opportunity to explore more than 130 years of Catholic journalism. Whether they are looking for an article or story they remember, researching a particular person or event, revisiting an important moment in the life of the Church or simply discovering how Catholic life in Canada has evolved over the decades.”

Perhaps even more exciting, Zammit attests, is what the newest feature could mean for the future delivery of the Register, and the continued goal of meeting readers where they are. 

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“I also see these web archives as an important way to extend The Catholic Register's reach beyond our weekly print and digital editions. It lets us meet readers where they are and makes the Register's remarkable body of journalism accessible to an even wider audience,” he said. 

“Ultimately, I hope the web archive becomes more than simply a place to find an old article, but  also that it becomes a resource that invites people to explore, discover and reconnect with the history of The Catholic Register and, through it, the story of the Catholic community in Canada.” 

A version of this article appeared in the September 13, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Opening up the Register’s digital vaults"