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Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010
Week of September 29, 2003
The WCR matters
This issue of the Western Catholic Reporter comes to you in a situation of tension between Church and society. In a way, this is nothing new. There has always been tension between the Catholic Church and society. The English-speaking world since the Reformation has often held pockets of anti-Catholic bigotry. It was not always easy to be a Catholic.
Although such bigotry has pretty much faded away, there are new tensions between Catholicism and society. The Church is becoming more forthright in proclaiming the Gospel to the wider world at a time when religious values are losing their importance.
In recent decades, the Church has become a spokesperson for the poor and marginalized as Western society has become a consumer society which too often has pushed the needs of the poor to the backburner. The Church has stood up for the rights of the unborn and the dying in the face of the enormous slaughter of unborn children. The Church has stood for peace, when war was seen as the way to security. And now the Church is standing for heterosexual, monogamous marriage as essential to the health of society when courts and legislators, in the name of freedom, want to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Church speaks the truth which society does not want to hear. Again, it is not easy to be a Catholic. And although it may still be too early for many to understand this, heeding the Church's prophetic voice is the only way to preserve a democracy that respects persons more than things.
The Western Catholic Reporter is an important vehicle which enables the Church's voice to be heard clearly and distinctly. Without Catholic voices like the WCR, it would be much more difficult for our own people, let alone the wider society, to hear the voice of reason guided by faith.
The WCR is Canada's largest weekly Church newspaper for a reason. The reason is that the Edmonton Archdiocese is committed to having the Church's teaching - and news about the Church community - reach as many Catholics as possible. Thousands of Catholics who receive the WCR attend Church infrequently. The WCR is their only weekly contact with the Church - probably the only thing that urges them on to live by Gospel values.
The current tension in which the Church is engaged with society is one that should spark dialogue, not angry acrimony. The Catholic press is the place for such dialogue to take shape. The WCR is the local forum that can spur Catholics on to permeating society with the spirit of the Gospel.
We ask you for your prayerful support as we do our best to keep the Church's voice alive and vibrant in society and in the hearts of our people.
- Glen Argan
Editor
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Our mission: To serve our readers by bringing the Gospel to bear on current issues in the Church and in secular culture through accurate news coverage and reflective commentary.