The ''Catholic Sentinel'' was the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

newspaper of the

Archdiocese of Portland The Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon (''Archidioecesis Portlandensis in Oregonia'') is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It encompasses the western part of the state of Oregon, from the s ...

. Reportedly the oldest Catholic newspaper on the West Coast, it was published by

Oregon Catholic Press Oregon Catholic Press (OCP, originally the Catholic Truth Society of Oregon) is a publisher of Catholic liturgical music based in Portland, Oregon. It published the newspapers ''Catholic Sentinel'' and ''El Centinela''; both papers have been dis ...

, which also published ''El Centinela'', a

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-language newspaper. It published an online edition from 1996 to 2022. In 2022, it was announced that both the ''Sentinel'' and ''El Centinela'' would be discontinued as of October 1, 2022.

History

The ''Catholic Sentinel'' was started in 1869 by grocer Henry Herman and printer J. F. Atkinson in response to anti-Catholicism. After the

Whitman massacre The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others ...

in 1847, a

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minister falsely accused local Catholics of inciting a band of Cayuse Indians to killing 10 Protestant missionaries. The first run of the ''Catholic Sentinel'' was 500 copies, and a year's subscription cost $4. The Sentinel now sends out more than 20,000 copies of each issue, plus 8,000 of El Centinela. The ''Sentinel'' has consistently fought anti-Catholic prejudice. In 1879, editor Stephen McCormick stated,

The need of a vigorous defender of the Faith in the Northwest is apparent to every Catholic who notices the numerous calumnies and slanders the ''Sentinel'' is called on to refute in the course of a single year. We have to defend the truth against all attacks; to explain honest misconstructions; to correct willful misrepresentations; expose false assertions, refute sophistical arguments, and above all to advocate effectively, correctly and positively the Faith that is in us and which is the bond of Christian unity that unites us to our readers.

In August 1895 Rev. Roland Grant of the

American Protective Association The American Protective Association (APA) was an American Anti-Catholicism, anti-Catholic secret society established in 1887 by Protestants. The organization was the largest anti-Catholic movement in the United States during the later part of the ...

spoke at the First Baptist Church in Portland. Among other claims, members of the A.P.A. maintained that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church had instigated the

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, during which they said Catholics made up large numbers of deserters, and that both

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and

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

were controlled by the Church. The ''Sentinel'' covered Grant's speech in which he spoke highly of an A.P.A riot in Boston a month earlier on the 4th of July. In 1913, the editor of the ''

Silverton Journal Silverton may refer to: Places Australia * Silverton, New South Wales **Silverton Wind Farm *Silverton, South Australia Canada * Silverton, British Columbia South Africa * Silverton, Pretoria United Kingdom * Silverton, Devon, En ...

'', J. E. Hosmer, published a pamphlet entitled, "The Escaped Nun from Mount Angel Convent or The Last Stand of Desperate Despotism". Hosmer was later convicted of libel and recanted."History of the Catholic Sentinel", ''Catholic Sentinel''
/ref> In 1912, and for several years thereafter, the Ku Klux Klan circulated a bogus oath supposedly taken by members of the Knights of Columbus. The spurious pledge contained, among other provisions those in which members purported pledged loyalty to the Pope and denounced Liberals, Masons, and Protestants; pledged not to hire any Protestant, and to send domestic workers as spies into Protestant homes. Editor John O'Hara found a copy of the so-called oath posted on the newspaper's door. In 1928, the ''Catholic Sentinel'' was acquired by the Catholic Truth Society of Oregon, later renamed

. It moved to a new printing plant in 1963 after its former building was condemned for use in the Stadium Freeway project. In 2017, the Catholic Press Association of the United States named the Sentinel Newspaper of the Year in its category. The last time the paper won that honor was 1959. It won again in 2021. On July 21, 2022, the Archdiocese of Portland and Oregon Catholic Press issued a joint news release announcing that both the ''Catholic Sentinel'' and ''El Centinela'' would close on Oct. 1.

References

External links

The ''Catholic Sentinel''

''El Centinela''
(in Spanish) {{Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association 1870 establishments in Oregon Newspapers published in Portland, Oregon Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Publications established in 1870 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon Catholic newspapers published in the United States