Bishop emphasizes importance of Catholic press

PHOTO | El Clarín
Bishop Thomas Wenski, shown here offering a radio address, believes as Catholics, “we should try to have a faith that is well formed — and well informed. Religious education — which is a lifelong project — can help form our faith; the Florida Catholic can help ‘inform’ it as well.”

Posted: 11.03.09

ORLANDO | In celebration of the Florida Catholic’s 70th year of covering your faith, your life and your community and in anticipation of the newspaper’s annual Florida Catholic Sunday campaign weekend Nov. 7-8, Bishop Thomas Wenski answered a few questions about why you should subscribe to your diocesan newspaper.

Q: As publisher of the Florida Catholic of Orlando, what do you believe the publication gives to local Catholic readers that they can’t get from other sources?
A: In the United States, more people are in churches on Sunday than in all the football stadiums combined. Yet, the secular media gives religion short shrift — and often when they report on religion and faith, they do it from a very biased perspective. Catholic press — with the local flavor of the Florida Catholic helps address this void for Catholics in central Florida.

Q: Why are the Florida Catholic and other Catholic media important in today’s world?
A: The Catholic Church continues to make “news” in the world — Catholic media helps interpret that news because Catholic media can speak with the language of faith.

Your Faith
Q: How does the Florida Catholic fit into your role as a teacher of the faith to your flock in the Diocese of Orlando?
A: My column in the Florida Catholic helps me fulfill my role as a teacher of the faith. In my column I cover a variety of topics — some touching on matters of spirituality, others on issues relating to public policy and the role of the Church in the public square, but always from the perspective of Catholic teachings.

Q: What can local Catholics learn about their faith by reading stories about the universal Church such as those that appear in the Florida Catholic?
A: Hopefully a well-read and well-informed Catholic can grow in appreciation of the good the Church does throughout the world as she witnesses to the presence of the Kingdom among us.

Your Life
Q: Why is it important for the faithful of the Diocese of Orlando to read a Catholic perspective on the news of the day on issues such as health care and immigration reform?
A: As Catholics we are to bring our faith into the public square — in fact, it is what we can contribute toward the creation of conditions that promote human flourishing. In the Catholic tradition, faith and reason are not opposed to one another but they mutually assist one another. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is both God and man: He reveals to us the human face of God and the divine face of man. Because of our faith in Christ, we as Catholics have something to say on anything that touches man as it relates to his dignity, his purpose in life, etc.

Q: How do you hope the faithful will use what they read in the Florida Catholic in their everyday lives?
A: As Catholics we should try to have a faith that is well formed — and well informed. Religious education — which is a lifelong project — can help form our faith; the Florida Catholic can help “inform” it as well.

YOUR COMMUNITY
Q: How does the Florida Catholic contribute to building a sense of community among Catholics throughout the large and diverse Diocese of Orlando?
A: Here in central Florida, most people come from someplace else and their primary experience of the Church is through their parish. The Florida Catholic helps open a window into the larger Church — our diocese as well as the universal Church. We are not “Congregationalists” — through baptism we enter into a truly worldwide community of faith.

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