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A full year of news lies ahead. While we don't know the exact details, we do the rough contours. There will be events and issues involving Catholics and our Church from around the world, the nation and the 14 counties of our Diocese.

The Evangelist will do our best to report on these in a fair, timely, factual and compelling manner.

In so doing, we try to be good stewards of our, and your, resources. We depend entirely on subscriptions and advertising for our revenue. In these hard times, and any other, we promise to make the best possible use of the support you give us. Most subscriptions come through parishes, so please reimburse that cost if possible. We encourage parishes to keep a healthy portion of members subscribed. Indeed, the Bishop has asked that all Catholic households in the Diocese receive the paper.

A good newspaper informs, educates and entertains. We want to tell you what we believe you need to know on current events and timeless teachings. To keep you reading, we seek to do so in a manner that engages your heart, mind and soul. Instead of just reciting doctrine on a sacrament, for example, we'll do so through the stories of individual believers, pastors and teachers.

We cannot cover everything. Our job as journalists is to pick the issues, stories and pictures that will appeal to and inform the broadest possible range of our 100,000-plus readers. We must include Catholic news from elsewhere. Within the Diocese, we try to rotate our coverage geographically, demographically and topically.

For instance, long ago we pledged to cover in some way every parish at least once every two years; we've nearly done so in 2009 alone. We also use periodic features for similar reasons, such as a Q-and-A with priests. This will eventually include nuns, lay leaders, deacons and others. In our spotlight series, we profile the Catholic schools of the Diocese. And we regularly profile young Catholics and their events and also devote several pages to "Young Faith" every week.

We are eager to find new ways to serve you, such as the weekly lesson plans we send to teachers and catechists so they can use The Evangelist with students and youths. We are now on Facebook and plan to redesign our website.

As a weekly paper, we may skip or cover differently events that will be thoroughly reported by daily newspapers, radio and television. As a Catholic newspaper, our priorities and approach will differ.

We hold ourselves to the highest possible standards. But we make mistakes and try to correct these soon thereafter. Factual errors are easily remedied; errors in judgment or taste may prompt us to rethink our choices and methods.

Like you and the Church at large, we are engaged in the search for truth that has always marked our religion. Though our decisions may vary, we are in it together with you, our readers and newsmakers. As Bishop Hubbard wrote in his Christmas letter, "We are called to have faith, to accept that we, as the children of God, are also part of God's plan."

Please join us in that effort and keep us in your prayers.

Editor's note: My unsigned editorials, such as the one above, attempt to express a communal and authoritative view in keeping with Church and diocesan teaching and practice. When I am expressing a more personal point of view, I put my name on it.

- Christopher D. Ringwald[[In-content Ad]]

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