Catholic Problems in Western Canada

by George Thomas Daly

Nowadays the Press is assuredly the greatest factor of the public mind. For, if public opinion is "King" and "Master" of the modern world, the "Press" is his "Prime Minister." Between these two great forces there is a continuous action and reaction; the Press is at the same time the moulder and mirror of public opinion.

We all know how the world has turned this mighty weapon against the Catholic Church. To create an anti-Catholic opinion, to surround the Church—its authority, its practices—with an atmosphere of prejudice and antagonism has always been the aim of the non-Catholic press. Of late this campaign has become so universal and so violent "that were St. Paul to live among us, he would become a journalist," said Archbishop Ireland. Repeatedly the Pontiffs of Rome have urged the faithful to contribute to the support of the Catholic Press. "In vain you will build churches," said Pius X, "give missions, found schools; all your works, all your efforts will be destroyed if you are not able to wield the defensive and offensive weapon of a loyal and sincere Catholic Press."

The Catholics of Western Canada should have these words of the beloved Pontiff continually before their minds. There is no place in Canada where this vital factor, the Catholic Press, is of such an absolute necessity. In our sparsely settled Provinces the Catholic paper is the greatest help of the priest. It prepares, keeps, and perfects his work and very often is the only silent messenger of the Church's teachings on the lonely prairie. Isolation from all Catholic life, from its teachings, its authority, its sacraments, has created through Western Canada a tremendous leakage in the Church. This leakage can be stopped to a certain extent by the active service of a good Press. The Catholic paper, indeed, reacts as an antitoxin against the virus of unbelief and indifferentism which a non-Catholic atmosphere is bound to spread. In its columns we find the answers to the misrepresentations and slanders which bigotry is ever throwing at the Church. But above all it is through the medium of the Catholic paper that the lonely Western settler enters into what we would call the larger life of the Church. We are too prone to think of and judge the Church by what we see of Her in our own nearest surroundings. We lose sight of Her Catholicity and forget that greater life which is ever pulsating throughout the world. The reading of the Catholic paper breaks down the narrow walls of parochialism, provincialism and nationalism, and introduces its readers into the more serene and more spacious regions of Catholic life. This is, in our opinion, the greatest benefit one can derive from the assiduous and intelligent reading of a good, active, Catholic paper.

Australia and New Zealand have understood the imperative necessity, the paramount importance of a Catholic Press. "The Freeman's Journal," "The Southern Cross," "The Catholic Press," "The New Zealand Tablet," are widely circulated weekly papers that keep Catholic life so intense in those distant colonies. What the Catholics of Australia have done, why can we not, in Western Canada, do likewise?

One cannot, indeed, over-estimate the value of a Catholic paper, especially in a sparsely settled country where the Church has yet but missions, where the visits of the priest and the teachings of the Gospel are intermittent, where the Catholics are lost among people of different faith and often of hostile feeling. But, if we wish our Catholic Press to fulfil its noble mission, it must be received as an expected and welcomed friend, and not, as often is the case, as an intruder, a sickly visitor who imposes himself more or less on our faith and generous nature.

What then are the conditions of genuine success for a Catholic paper? Vigour in policy, extensiveness in circulation: these are the two essential conditions of success. The Catholic paper in a community must be a live-wire of high voltage, carrying light, heat, and power, and not a mere telegraphic-cable repeating what others have already said, or serving as a safety valve for the overflow of local gossip. The news and issues of general interest should be so combined with local topics as to awaken and keep the attention of the reader.

Circulation is also fundamental in journalism as well as in the human system. It carries life into the whole organism and is the warrant of success. The moment circulation becomes stagnant and loses hold of the people, the paper is but a ghost. Poor circulation is what gives to so many Catholic papers such languid existence.

How can we create these conditions of success for the Catholic Press in Western Canada, where its need is so deeply felt? There is the crux of the present situation. Our scattered and comparatively small population, even in our cities, the extreme difficulty of securing and keeping managers and editors suited for this work, the indifference and spirit of commercialism which characterize Western Canada: all these factors tend to render precarious the life of a Catholic paper. And still the crying need is there; how are we to meet it?

This leads us to make a suggestion which would help to solve the problem of the Catholic Press in the West. The beautiful work of the Catholic Press in France has prompted it.

The society of "La Bonne Presse" issues a weekly paper, "La Croix." This paper has different issues for the different parts of France. At the central office, in Paris, exists a well organized "boiler-plate" service for general Catholic news and opinions. These "boiler-plates" are shipped to all the sub-stations, where, during the week are composed the pages of local news, editorials, advertisements, etc. This is the most economical and most efficient modern method of publishing several papers or different issues of the one paper.