The ''Florida Catholic'' is the official newspaper for four of the seven dioceses in the Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Miami. Based in Orlando, Florida, the newspaper publishes 24 issues a year in three dioceses; these editions include local, state, national and international Catholic news. The Miami Archdiocese edition is published once a month with local content. Other articles discuss faith issues and highlight specific schools, ministries or parish activities. The Bishop of each Florida Diocese offers a personal message to subscribers in their diocese on current events or faith subjects. An online version of the newspaper offers the most recent edition as well as an archive of past articles and bishop's messages.

History

The paper was first published as a weekly in Miami in 1939. It moved to St. Augustine in 1942. It moved to Orlando about 1952. In 1958, it was replaced by ''The Voice'', only in the Miami diocese, for the next 32 years. In 1959, the paper moved to the

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

suburb of Winter Park. In 1972, the paper changed its format from broadsheet to tabloid. In 1984, the

Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

began publishing their own version of the newspaper. In 1990, the paper absorbed ''The Voice'' published by the Archdiocese of Miami and began serving that area. The addition of Miami gives the paper a circulation of 140,000 and serving six out of the seven dioceses in the state. In 1993, specific local sections were generated for each diocese. In 2003, it was discovered that a bookkeeper had embezzled money totaling a large sum over decades. The bookkeeper was charged with grand theft and the editor felt obliged to resign.Orlando Sentinel
accessed March 14, 2008 This resulted in an abbreviated publishing schedule for several years until losses could be recouped. In 2004, the Catholic Press Association selected the paper to receive the Bishop John England Award for First Amendment rights, freedom of the press and/or freedom of religion. In 2008, the paper is published for the final time in the St. Petersburg Diocese. It begins production of a new publication for that diocese, ''Gathered, Nourished, Sent''. In 2012, the paper added a digital e-Edition subscription ($20) which combines content from three dioceses (Orlando, Palm Beach and Venice) and began a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Editors

#Father Vincent Smith ?-1965 #Father David Page 1965-1990 #Henry Libersat 1990-1999 #Steven Paradis 1999-2003 #Christopher Gunty 2003-2008 #Denise O'Toole Kelly 2008-2009 Hard to verify. Not known if there was intervening editor. Title apparently changed. #Mary St. Pierre 2009-2010

Footnotes

External links

''Florida Catholic'' Official Website''Florida Catholic''
historical issues freely available through the

Florida Digital Newspaper Library The Florida Digital Newspaper Library provides access to the news and history of Florida through local Florida newspapers. The Florida Digital Newspaper Library is supported by the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries and hosted in ...

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida Catholic newspapers published in the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach Roman Catholic Diocese of Pensacola–Tallahassee Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Augustine Orange County, Florida Christianity in Orlando, Florida Newspapers published in Florida 1939 establishments in Florida Newspapers established in 1939