History of the Catholic Register
The Catholic Register, the oldest English Catholic publication in Canada, was founded in 1893 but its roots reach back 30 years earlier.
In 1863 a newspaper called the Irish Canadian was founded by a Toronto entrepreneur named Patrick Boyle. Four years later a competitor emerged to launch the Catholic Weekly Review, under editor Gerald Fitzgerald. Those two papers co-existed for 30 years (although the Irish Canadian was forced to suspend publication for three months when its editor was jailed for crimes related to Fenian activities).
Conversations between senior Church leaders and the proprietor of the Catholic Weekly Review resulted in an offer to the Irish Canadian and a merger of the two papers. The new entity was called The Catholic Register and its first issue was published on Jan. 5, 1893.
The first editor-in-chief was Fr. John R. Teefy, the Principal of St. Michael’s College, whose mandate was to provide Catholic journalism that put greater focus on Canadian news and events rather than on those happening in Ireland.
In 1909, ownership of The Register passed to the Catholic Church Extension Society, and the paper became known as The Catholic Register and Canadian Extension. It continued to be published in Toronto until moving to Kingston in 1942.
There the paper was amalgamated with the Canadian Freeman, the Montreal Beacon, the Pembroke Crusader and the Northern Catholic of Sault St. Marie and was published under the new name of the Canadian Register. Its role was to provide a high quality journalism and to be a forum for the defence of the Catholic Church in Canada.
The paper returned to Toronto in 1970 and continued to be called the Canadian Register until 1972, when it reverted to its original name, The Catholic Register.
Over the decades, The Catholic Register has been in the forefront of public debates concerning the Church. Whether it be education, military conscription in wartime, the battle against poverty or human rights, The Register pages have been a forum for discussion and presenting the Catholic viewpoint.
The bishops of Ontario have played a vital role in the history of The Register, at times sponsoring it in their own dioceses. They also bought a new press for the paper. In the 1940s a press was brought from England and placed in a renovated two-storey plant at Kingston, Ontario, which served as main printing plant and headquarters of the Catholic press in this province for several decades.
Over the years, the newspaper has changed its ownership structure several times. Currently it is owned by the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Looking back at Catholic papers over the years, one can see that styles and formats have drastically changed. Layouts of early papers would be considered rather heavy and dull by today's standards. Quite often the papers were one-man publications, the editor depending on mail and slow couriers, and using brush and glue to advantage in borrowing from other papers. Compare this with today's Register which gets its news and opinion from staff reporters, freelancers, and correspondents and wire services from across Canada, the United States and Rome.
In the early papers, there were small headings and long columns of type rarely broken by photos. News writing could hardly be distinguished from opinion pieces. At times there were strong defensive attitudes in the opinion columns.
With a change in the social attitudes in Canada, the Catholic papers have developed with a more open, confident look and stance.
A significant change in the direction of the Catholic press came with the Second Vatican Council, which further reflected openness, optimism and ecumenism. In the 1960s and 1970s, a time of enormous upheaval in the Church, the Catholic press often came under sharp attack, even when only reporting storms in the Church.
Today The Register tries to present a broad spectrum of views from within the Catholic community, as well as views from those outside the faith which would, in the opinion of the editor, help Catholics better understand their world.
The onset of the Internet in the 1990s has had a significant impact on all news operations, including The Register. Today, in addition to its weekly print edition, The Register publishes news and opinion daily on its website, www.catholicregister.org. It also maintains a digital edition — a replica version of the print edition which can be read on computers, laptops and mobile devices.
Additionally, The Register uses social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to reach a broad audience that extends far beyond Canadian borders. Many readers also subscribe to The Register’s electronic newsletter, which is sent out weekly.
To mark the 125th anniversary of the newspaper, The Register tackled an ambitious project to digitize every past issue of the paper, from 1893 to the current day, and make those papers available to subscribers over the Internet as pdf pages.
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The Catholic Register has become Canada’s number one source of Catholic news thanks to its online and social media presence, and its highly influential and award-winning weekly newspaper.
The Catholic Register is the largest national Catholic weekly newspaper in Canada, delivering to more than 36,000 homes, churches and institutions. Since 1893, it has been an award-winning leader in news reporting and opinion, addressing issues of social justice and faith from a Catholic perspective.
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In the print edition, you can buy display and inserts. On our web site, we have various options including banners, buttons and box ads.
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Returns and Refunds Policy
The Catholic Register is committed to quality and wants our customers to be completely happy with their purchases. If for any reason you are not satisfied, please contact us and if we are unable to remedy your situation you will receive a refund subject to the terms of our refund policy.
A newspaper subscription can be extended or cancelled at any time.
In the event of damaged goods or if the wrong item is shipped, a report must be made to The Catholic Register within three business days of delivery in order to be eligible for refund. The Register will pay reasonable return shipping costs, subject to the purchaser receiving prior authorization. A refund shall be issued only after the goods in question have been returned to The Catholic Register.
Prior to shipping any product to The Register, you must contact us by email (circ@catholicregister.org) to receive return authorization and instructions before shipping. Your email should include your name, address, purchase date and product description, as well as the reason for the return. The Register shall not accept responsibility for any unauthorized product shipped to us.
Returns can also be made in person during regular business hours to our offices at 1155 Yonge St., Suite 401, Toronto.
Refunds can only be made to the original purchaser and will be made in the same form of payment originally used for purchase. The Register shall accept no responsibility for products lost or damaged in return shipping to us.
Product Descriptions
The Register attempt to be as accurate as possible in its product descriptions. If a purchased product is not as described, your sole remedy is to return it in unused condition.
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By making a purchase from catholicregister.org, you agree that the laws of the province of Ontario, Canada will govern this Returns and Refunds policy and govern any dispute of any nature that might arise between you and The Register.
Site Policies, Modification
We reserve the right to make changes to our site and Returns and Refunds policy at any time. Any changes or revisions will be effective immediately upon their posting on catholicregister.org. Your rights with respect to returns and refunds shall be governed by the version of the Returns and Refunds policy posted on the site at the time of purchase. Accordingly, you are advised to review the Returns and Refunds policy each time you intend to make a purchase at catholicregister.org.
Brother André: A saintly life
Canada’s next saint has always simply been known as Brother André, nothing more. But when Pope Benedict XVI declares him a saint in Rome Oct. 17, what title will he be given?
“We don’t know,” said Danielle Decelles, a spokesperson for St. Joseph’s Oratory. “For us in Montreal, he is St. Brother André.”
Rome has not revealed to the archdiocese of Montreal or St. Joseph’s Oratory what title Brother André will be given in the document proclaiming his sainthood. That will be revealed Oct. 17, said Decelles.
More efficiency needed for Iraqi refugee resettlement
Canada is either the number two or number three country after the United States in terms of taking on Iraqi refugees, depending on how we measure it.From 2007 to 2009 the UNHCR in Syria submitted 3,280 applications from verified Iraqi refugees for resettlement in Canada. That’s second to the 27,406 who were submitted for resettlement in the United States.
12 per cent of world's refugees from Iraq
There are some 16 million refugees in the world, and another 26 million internally displaced people — people who haven’t crossed a border but still can’t go home.Of the total, Iraq accounts for 1.9 million or 12 per cent of the world’s refugees, to say nothing of 2.6 million internally displaced Iraqis.
Iraq has always been a nation of diverse communities
Historically, Iraq has never been a cultural monolith.
The fertile crescent, where the Tigris and Euphrates meet, on the frontier between the Persian empires and the Arab world, Iraq has been a home and a haven for a diverse blend of religious communities, languages, ethnic minorities and tribes.
The major minorities of Iraq include:
Raising up Haiti: A Catholic Register Special Report
On the anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude Haiti earthquake that killed 230,000 people, The Catholic Register has compiled a special report on reconstruction efforts in the impoverished nation.
At 4:53 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2010, Haiti was devastated. The quake’s epicentre was 16 km west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, home to 3.5-million people. Large sections of the city were flattened and virtually every building damaged. Hospitals, schools and government buildings collapsed on their inhabitants. The city’s cathedral crumbled, killing Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot. An estimated 1.5-million people were made homeless.
The international community sent emergency supplies, money and manpower, and pledged $5.3 billion for long-term reconstruction. Canadian Catholics contributed more than $20 million to Haitian relief.
To mark the first anniversary of the quake, The Register dispatched Associate Editor Michael Swan to Haiti to document the reconstruction effort. He saw a nation still clearing rubble from streets, still coping with tent cities, still flinching from crime, still living day to day. The rebuilding has begun but it is sporadic and not always well co-ordinated.
But The Register’s veteran reporter also witnessed hope and resilience and even some joy.
“Haitians are the world champions of the brave face,” he writes. “They make British stiff upper lips look wobbly as Jello.”
One year on, we should pause to remember Haiti. Its needs remain great. In the articles listed below, Swan tells Haiti’s story in words and photos.