Development of the Catholic Nutshell News
Four proddings and developments prompted the publication of Catholic Nutshell News.
The growing number of Catholic journalists & bloggers
Two services list specific links to Catholic sites and bloggers — Feedspot and RSS.com. I belong to one of the sites referenced in both places with HomelessCatholic.com. The organic development of Catholic thinkers and evangelists surprises me. It’s both exciting and encouraging. These writers often go unread.
I’ve been following for years my favorite Catholic writers online, many who’ve formed their online audiences and services. John Allen at CRUX, JD Flynn, ED Condon, Luke Coppen at The Pillar, and the CatholicVote folks who orchestrate LOOP. I’ve watched great writers I’ve known and enjoyed their articles and reflections. That would include Melissa Musick Nussbaum, Ross Douthat, Bishop Barron, John Eldredge, and many others.
Some newcomers I’ve found at SubStack include Phillip Hadden’s folks on Missio Dei. The excellent collection of women writers, “Sisters,” at Radiant Magazine are always fun to read.
They deserve more attention, wider audiences, and the opportunity for daily recognition. Many more accomplished and budding Catholic journalists and writers are out there, too.
In addition, the number of excellent Catholic journals and publications should astonish the Catholic world. Theologians, scientists, and philosophers produce some of the best works in any academic circle. I’ve been noodling about a venue to highlight these folks for some time.
Requests from dear friends to recommend Catholic resources
For two decades, my time with Joanne at the helm of two Catholic newspapers resulted in spreadsheets and links to resources and publications we would share with colleagues and friends. The exercise in discovering and reviewing Catholic journalism, journals, and reflections hasn’t abated, even though I left the industry 20 years ago.
I find my online time increases dramatically when clickbait ADD kicks in. Catholic news and comments pop up on just about every topic. Nothing seemed to stunt the activity of faithful Catholic writers. I can’t help keeping up with the cauldron of cooking up saints for the Body of Christ. Every one of the sites I mentioned above, plus three times that many, jog me into a race to read and categorize as much information as possible.
Four years ago, I forwarded a three-page summary of information to my Catholic men’s group. It brought down the house. “You’ve got to be kidding!” I wasn’t kidding, but I was summarily chastised. My passionate plea and lengthy link list were not helpful.
Thank God for The Pillar and LOOP, which neatly packaged what I wanted them to see. The Pillar for investigative Catholic journalism, and the LOOP for cultural and political impacts upon the Catholic faith. The feature-rich writing from the source documents of LOOP and the dozens of sturdy Catholic teaching sites took up lots of my day. Babylon Bee and Word on Fire, two completely different Christian/Catholic writing spectrums, kept noodling at me.
I didn’t have enough time to read everything, but I thought that over a week I might eventually get through everything. Couldn’t that be a helpful evangelical booster? I was still noodling on an idea, but it seemed a possibility.
The end of Catholic News Service and its implications
In March of this year, I caught the announcement about the shutdown of the Catholic News Service (CNS). CNS formed the source of most Catholic news during the twenty years Joanne and I ran diocesan newspapers.
Most interesting to me were the “shocked” folks. Professionals who know this industry and rely upon CNS's international and national coverage were surprised about this decision. Really? They had no idea this was coming? I’m not going to analyze the now-evident runway that led to CNS ending. The argument falls flat, however, that an unfortunate new burgeoning growth of non-USCC-managed publications would muddy the journalistic waters. That development has been going on for a long time.
As dioceses shut down newspapers, it has been sad to see CNS end. However, other journalist services exist, and almost all dioceses have developed online magazines and virtual communication avenues. Concluding that a unified orthodox voice with properly managed Catholic points of view disappears without CNS portends a disaster that should be framed differently. The decline of Catholic newspapers is a morphing, digital shift that has already taken place. Online publications abound.
Meanwhile, as a publicized divided bishop’s conference has imagined a damaged orthodoxy, a review of digital offerings tells a different story. The need for journalism has increased. The bishops are not an evenly split assembly. The Church episcopate remains more orthodox than many journalists recognize and report.
Catholics in the pew, in parish offices, clergy, religious, administration-level staff, and bishops need more information, not less. That effort could use my skill stacks. I put together a plan, and the Nutshell idea was formed.
The first Catholic Nutshell News trial run got high fives
The Catholic Nutshell News genesis grew from the historical perspective I experienced and my reaction to the prodding from worried and confused friends about the Church.
The Holy Spirit hasn’t failed the Church. He hasn’t been quiet, either.
I want to help publicize and promote the professional and called voices out there who hear God’s call to write about our Catholic world. I want to encourage the evangelizing writers, the apologists doing the hard work, and the prophets with keyboards. None of these folks, or I, are barging forward. A loving God is nudging us.
On November 2, 2022, the first test of Catholic Nutshell News popped out of SubStack. I’ve managed to run the posting every day since, excluding Sundays. It’s been both energizing and taxing. The reactions and comments are overwhelming and positive.
We’re coming up on our three year anniversary. The apostolate has legs.