''The Catholic Telegraph'' is a monthly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati The Archdiocese of Cincinnati ( la, Archidiœcesis Cincinnatensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese that covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan ...

primarily for its 500,000 congregants. The archdiocese covers 19 counties in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, including the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

metropolitan areas. Originally a weekly newspaper, the ''Telegraph'' has published continuously since 1831, except for a brief period in 1832, making it the first diocesan newspaper and second oldest Catholic newspaper in the United States. The ''Telegraph'' became a monthly newspaper in September 2011 and began publishing in magazine format in June 2020.

History

The ''Catholic Telegraph'' was established on October 22, 1831, by Bishop

Edward Fenwick Edward Dominic Fenwick, (August 19, 1768 – September 26, 1832) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, a Dominican friar and the first Bishop of Cincinnati. Early life Edward Fenwick was born August 19, 1768 on the family plantation ...

, O.P., the Archdiocese's first bishop. Its first editor put the paper on a short hiatus the next fall to care for victims of a cholera outbreak. The paper's use of the word "

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

" predated the invention of the communication device by over a decade. As one of the first Catholic newspapers in the nation, the ''Telegraph'' was sold in cities throughout the country's middle section, including

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Missouri, and

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. From 1849–1861, ''The Catholic Telegraph and Advocate'' also served as the

Diocese of Louisville The Archdiocese of Louisville is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that consists of twenty-four counties in the central American state of Kentucky, covering . As of 2018, the archdiocese contains appr ...

's official newspaper. Early in the episcopal reign of John Baptist Purcell, the ''Telegraph'' fell into significant financial difficulties. As its closure appeared imminent, large numbers of common Catholics formed the Roman Catholic Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge, with its primary purpose being the rescue of the ''Telegraph''. Their goal being accomplished, the Society's success became famous throughout the American Catholic Church, and a similar organization, patterned after the one in Cincinnati, was established in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.McCann, Mary Agnes.
The Most Reverend John Baptist Purcell, D.D., Archbishop of Cincinnati (1800-1883)
''Catholic Historical Review'' 6 (1920): 172-199. From 1837 to 1907, the ''Telegraph'' had a

German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

sister publication, known as '' Der Wahrheitsfreund''. It was the country's first Catholic periodical published in German. During the Civil War, the ''Telegraph'' took a difficult position on the questions of slavery and union. Under Archbishop Purcell, who emphasized the "prudential motives" that made the

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: *Abolitionism, abolition of slavery * Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolition of monarchy *Abolition of nuclear weapons *Abolit ...

of slavery inadvisable, the ''Telegraph'' stridently opposed slavery, secession, and initially abolition. Its antislavery stance stood in stark contrast to other Catholic newspapers, particularly the '' New York Freeman's Journal''. In an editorial, the ''Telegraph'' condemned the New Orleans Catholic newspaper, ''

Le Propagateur Catholique ''Le Propagateur Catholique'' ("The Catholic Propagator") was a 19th-century American, French-language, Roman Catholic newspaper. It was founded in 1842 at the newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Archbishop Napoléon-Joseph Perché.

'', for running an advertisement about a '' mulatre'' who was available for rent or sale. The ''Telegraph'' opined that "It is not necessary to be an abolitionist... to condemn a practice so repugnant to Catholic feeling." In April 1861, the month the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

started, the paper continued to urge accommodation with the slave states so strongly that an abolitionist, Unionist bishop condemned its editorial stance as "aid of treason." However, in 1863, it became the first prominent Catholic newspaper to advocate

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

. In 1937, the ''Telegraph'' renamed itself ''The Catholic Telegraph Register'' and joined the

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based Register System of Newspapers, which would later become the ''

National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...

''. In 1961, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati assumed control of the ''Telegraph''. The ''Telegraph'' switched from a broadsheet format to a tabloid format in the 2000s. It launched a new website and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account in March 2009. The paper switched from weekly to monthly publication in September 2011. Beginning with its October 2013 issue, it "move towards a less 'newsy' mode". In June 2020, the ''Telegraph'' began publishing in magazine format, after 188 years publishing as a newspaper. Each issue is focused on a different theme.

Online presence

The magazine's website, TheCatholicTelegraph.com, publishes news daily and reaches roughly 30,000 readers per month. The Catholic News Archive provides free, full-text access to 2,726 issues of the ''Telegraph'' and the ''Telegraph and Advocate'' from the first issue on October 22, 1831, to December 31, 1885. The archive was digitized by the Catholic Research Resources Alliance with funding from the State Library of Ohio and Hamilton County Genealogy Society. Issues through the 1874 are also available from the

Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) is a public library system in the United States. In addition to its main library location in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, CHPL operates 40 regional and branch locations throughout Hamil ...

. , the library is working to digitize the rest of the issues that have entered the public domain, through 1922.

External links

*
Archived issues from 1831 to 1885
from the Catholic News Archive
Archived issues from 1831 to 1874
from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Telegraph, The Publications established in 1831 Magazines published in Cincinnati Newspapers published in Cincinnati Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati Catholic magazines published in the United States Catholic newspapers published in the United States 1831 establishments in Ohio

History

Online presence

Further reading

See also

External links

References