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Our Sunday Visitor

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Our Sunday Visitor
Company logo
Founded1912
FounderJohn F. Noll
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationHuntington, Indiana
Key peopleKyle Hamilton, Scott P. Richert, Gretchen R. Crowe, Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P.
Publication typesNewspapers, magazines, books, pamphlets, offertory envelopes
Official websiteosv.com

Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) is a Catholic publishing company in Huntington, Indiana, which prints the American national weekly newspaper of that name, as well as numerous Catholic periodicals, religious books, pamphlets, catechetical materials, inserts for parish bulletins and offertory envelopes, and offers an "Online Giving" system and "Faith in Action" websites for parishes.[1] Founded in 1912 by Fr John F. Noll, the newspaper Our Sunday Visitor was the most popular Catholic newsweekly of the twentieth century.[2]

History

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Our Sunday Visitor's former offices in Huntington

John Francis Noll, later Bishop of Fort Wayne in Indiana, was a small town priest who, having grown weary of anti-Catholic literature, and especially a widely circulated anti-Catholic paper called The Menace, decided to print a parish bulletin. The first issue of Our Sunday Visitor, numbering 35,000 copies, was dated May 5, 1912. A year later, the circulation of the paper had reached 160,000 copies, far beyond Noll's parish. Shortly after World War I, the circulation had grown to 500,000 copies.[3]

The initial focus of Our Sunday Visitor was to combat anti-Catholicism, help Catholics preserve their identity, teach Catholics about their faith, and combat social injustice. A column Noll started in 1912, called "Father Smith Instructs Jackson", was later collected into a popular book, which sold millions of copies.[3]

On March 30, 1913, the paper offered a $10,000 reward for anyone who could prove the anti-Catholic charges laid against the Church. No one ever claimed the reward.[3]

In the 1930s, Our Sunday Visitor focused on how Catholics could preserve their faith in a secular society. During the 1940s, Noll's newspaper took positions against birth control, divorce, and indecent literature and movies.[3]

During the Cold War, the paper stepped up its attacks on communism and warned Catholics away from joining communist groups. The fortieth anniversary issue of Our Sunday Visitor, published on May 4, 1952, carried a banner headline that read, "They Do Not Want God in Our Schools: Secular Trend is Certain to Bring Disaster."[3]

In 1953, Noll was named archbishop ad personam by Pope Pius XII. Noll suffered a stroke in 1954 and was no longer able to edit Our Sunday Visitor. He died on July 31, 1956.[3]

After Noll's death, the paper continued to be produced, and in 1961 its circulation had surpassed one million. Today, Our Sunday Visitor has a full publishing wing which publishes books, religious educational materials, and other media.[3] The company expanded by purchasing Harcourt Religion in 2009.[4] As of 2019 the weekly newspaper is known as Our Sunday Visitor, and the editorial director for periodicals is Gretchen R. Crowe;[5] earlier it was known as OSV Newsweekly. Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P., was announced as Crowe's successor as editor of Our Sunday Visitor, on August 24, 2022.[6]

In July 2012, Our Sunday Visitor was selected by the Vatican as the exclusive distributor of the North American English edition of the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.[7][8]

In July 2022, the company announced plans to acquire the operations of Catholic News Service, which was set to close its US office at the end of the year. Crowe will serve as the editor of the new agency, OSV News.[9]

In July 2024, the company announced its weekly newspaper will transition to a monthly lifestyle magazine format.[10]

OSV News

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OSV News
FormatOnline
Owner(s)Our Sunday visitor
EditorGretchen Crowe
LanguageEnglish, Spanish
Websitecatholicnews.com and osvnews.com

Our Sunday Visitor announced in July 2022 that since the close of the US services of Catholic News Service (CNS) was planned, Our Sunday Visitor would be launching a new news agency on 1 January 2023: OSV News. Our Sunday Visitor also stated it would acquire the digital archives of CNS and allow for its consultations on OSV News by subscribers. They also stated the new agency's website would be hosted on CNS's former URL address.[9][11]

In August 2022, Gretchen Crowe was named editor-in-chief of the future OSV News.[12][13]

In September 2022, Our Sunday Visitor stated it would reemploy three veteran CNS journalists for the future launch of OSV News.[14]

The launch date of 1 January 2023 was also confirmed by OSV News.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Company". Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  2. ^ "Founding of the Our Sunday Visitor". CatholicHistory.net. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "'To Serve the Church'". Our Sunday Visitor. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  4. ^ "A New Day in Catechesis - Our Sunday Visitor Acquires Harcourt Religion Publishers from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt". PRWeb. June 5, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  5. ^ "About". OSV Newsweekly. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  6. ^ Staff, Our Sunday Visitor (August 24, 2022). "Father Patrick Briscoe named editor of Our Sunday Visitor". Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  7. ^ "Our Sunday Visitor becomes English distributor for Vatican newspaper". Catholic News Agency. July 19, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  8. ^ The Associated Press (July 24, 2012). "Vatican newspaper getting wider distribution in US". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Zimmermann, Carol (July 7, 2022). "Our Sunday Visitor announces launch of new Catholic news service in 2023". Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  10. ^ Steffens, Renata (July 25, 2024). "Catholic publications closing on both sides of the Atlantic". The Irish Catholic. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "OSV to launch a new Catholic news service Jan. 1". Our Sunday Visitor. July 6, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  12. ^ "Our Sunday Visitor names Gretchen R. Crowe as editor-in-chief of OSV News". Catholic Philly. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  13. ^ "Crowe named editor-in-chief of OSV News". OSV News. August 5, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  14. ^ "CNS Veteran Journalists to Join OSV News in January". Our Sunday Visitor. September 9, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  15. ^ Wiering, Maria (December 29, 2022). "OSV News launches Jan. 1, aims to speak 'truth in charity in a way that unites'". OSV News. Retrieved March 1, 2023.

Further reading

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