WCR full of local Church news

World Youth Day coverage a highlight of the past year

But most of that coverage dealt not with Toronto, but with young Albertans. When the Pilgrim Cross traversed the province last November in preparation for WYD, our reporters wrote stories from places like Hobbema, Hinton, Wainwright, Stettler, Red Deer and Olds as well as the Edmonton area.

When young people reached their final stages of preparation for the July event, our WYD reporter Renato Gandia visited them in Drayton Valley, Camrose, Lloydminster, Leduc, Vegreville and other centres. And when 1,000 young people from the archdiocese were at WYD, Gandia was there too, telling our readers how one of the greatest religious events in Canada's history was affecting them.

World Youth Day is over. But that event may bear good fruit for generations. The WCR will continue to be there with today's Catholic youth, reporting on at least the immediate follow-up to the event that has changed lives.

When the WCR conducted a readership survey last November, more than 95 per cent of the respondents said they were satisfied with how the WCR helps them learn what is happening in the archdiocese.

One man wrote on his survey, "Ten years ago, I felt that the WCR was a heavy financial burden to our parishes, but the benefits have outweighed the cost a hundredfold. The WCR is a great investment."

Local coverage is the lifeblood of any newspaper and by providing that coverage we aim to maintain a close relationship with our readers. We can't send a reporter to every event in the archdiocese, but we do try to cover those events that will be of interest to a broad swath of our readership.

But the WCR is more than a newspaper. We take seriously the statement by Cardinal Francis George to Catholic journalists: "You should be teaching the faith while reporting the news."

We don't bend the facts to fit the faith. Rather, we try to tell stories of the faith and provide the latest explanations of Church teaching. The WCR provides coverage of how the faith of the ages rubs up against developments in the modern world. And in doing that, we are serving our readers by carrying out the mission of the Second Vatican Council.

One young woman told us on the readership survey, "The WCR has been an awesome tool for expanding my knowledge and understanding of the faith."

Over the last few years, we have had special series of articles devoted to telling about the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Church teaching on the Virgin Mary, and the life and spirituality of St. Th‚rŠse of Lisieux. We published Archbishop Thomas Collins' pastoral letter on the Eucharist, as well as a series he wrote on the life of prayer.

In the WCR, there are weekly opportunities to learn more about your faith and more about your faith community. Take the time. Read the WCR. For those who live in the Edmonton Archdiocese, it's the Church's gift to you.

- Glen Argan

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