The final OSV top Catholic(s) of the Year

 

Meet Our Sunday Visitor’s 2022 Catholics of the Year

The staff of Catholic News Service

For being a trusted source of Catholic media, even amid change

By Gretchen R. Crowe

CNS

When the U.S. bishops announced the closure of their primary communications arm, Catholic News Service (CNS), on May 4, CNS did what it has done for 102 years: reported the news. Longtime CNS reporter Carol Zimmerman broke the news on Twitter, and it was soon followed by a story. “The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced to staff May 4 a dramatic reorganization of its communications department, including the closure of the Washington and New York offices of Catholic News Service,” their lede read, accompanied by a photo of an empty CNS newsroom. “In meetings with newsroom staff, James Rogers, the chief communications officer of the conference, said that the Washington office would be closed at year’s end.” In the hours that followed, there was shock and scrambling, as news outlets that have relied on CNS for decades to report national and international news tried to regroup and determine next steps.

At the time, the Our Sunday Visitor Editorial Board wrote: “With the dissolution of CNS, the national Church loses a valuable source of information on issues that affect every Catholic, such as respect for life, immigration, education, culture, racism, government and politics, community violence and Church initiatives, institutions and documents — the list goes on.” It continued, “The closing of Catholic News Service will eliminate one of the Church’s most credible news outlets at a time when the world sorely needs the faithful to be better formed — and more informed.”

For the majority of CNS’s domestic staff, led by director and editor-in-chief Greg Erlandson, their commission was clear: until Dec. 31, at least, the show must go on. For the past seven months, CNS staffers have continued to faithfully report the news: the Dobbs ruling and the ensuing political fallout for the pro-life movement; the kick-off of the National Eucharistic Revival; Pope Francis’ visit to Canada; the midterm elections; ongoing gun violence and natural disasters; the bishops’ fall plenary; and all the smaller stories that make up the fabric of everyday Catholic life.

With the announcement of OSV News, and as the transition from CNS to OSV News began back in July, Erlandson and the members of his team, especially Edmond Brosnan, have gone to extraordinary lengths to see that OSV News has been supported in whatever way was possible. The team employed at the domestic offices of Catholic News Service might be disbanding, but their good work will live on in the stories, images, columns, catechetical articles, and more that they have put their hearts and souls into throughout the past many years. I am grateful for the excellent contribution to Catholic media that they leave behind, and I am proud that they number among Our Sunday Visitor’s 2022 Catholics of the Year.