A letter to our readers.

Recently "little" Therese of Lisieux-distinct from her Carmelite sister, the "great" Teresa of Avila, Spain- was honoured by a great many Canadians as her reliquary travelled from diocese to diocese. St. Therese "the Little Flower," as she is also known, is famous for her promise that she would rain down rose petals from heaven on those who appeal to her for help. We here at Catholic Insight are the beneficiaries of this promise. Our fundraiser for 2002-3, launched on her feast day October 1, 2001, has made an astounding 658 of you benefactors of the journal, for a total of $56,600.00 in donations. Needless to say, we deeply appreciate this vote of confidence.

A number of you told us that you read C.I. from cover to cover every month. This is another vote of confidence in the work we are doing as an independent Catholic magazine. As you all know, outside the traditional diocesan weeklies, there is practically no Catholic press to speak of in Canada. How can the faithful participate in the work of the Church when there are no press organs in which to express opinions?

This month, January 2002, Our Family magazine, the Oblate monthly out of Saskatchewan which goes back to the nineteen forties, printed its last issue. Last December the monthly magazine Companion, published by the Franciscans in Burlington, ON, ceased publication. Next month, on April 1, Larry Henderson resigns as editor of Challenge magazine, bringing changes there as well. All the more reason for Catholic Insight, therefore, to survive and flourish. There has to be a magazine in Canada where Catholics can find critical but fair analyses of what goes on in the Church, here in Canada and elsewhere.

Last September, Archbishop John Foley of the Vatican's Council for Social Communications told the World Congress of Catholic Journalists to forego personal prejudice and political correctness and have "an unwavering dedication to truth." That is what Catholic Insight has tried to do in the past and hopes to continue doing in the future.

Rate increases

Now for some unpleasant news. In April Canada Post will be increasing its mail rates for magazines anywhere from 12% to 40%. For ourselves, as magazine publishers, these new rates could be devastating. We hope for the lower rate. At the same time, production costs of our magazine have increased. Our journal has grown from 16 pages a month in 1993 to 40 pages in 2001. It is not possible for us to accommodate the increase in postage and production without increasing our subscription rates. Therefore, beginning in April, the subscription rates will be as follows: a one-year subscription: $32.00; a two-year subscription: $57.00; and a three-year subscription: $80.00. For U.S. and foreign subscriptions, the rates will be as follows: a one-year subscription: $35.00 U.S.; a two-year subscription: $60.00 U.S. Single issues will sell at $4.00. Sorry about the necessity of these increases.

Columnists

We have added to, and subtracted from, our number of columnists. Michael Coren is no longer with us; his contract ended December 31. Herman Goodden, Ian Hunter, and Lianne Laurence have joined us on a regular basis, while Paula Adamick, Rory Leishman, Peter Stockland and Mariette Ulrich continue as of old. Other contributors will carry on with us as the "Spirit" moves them.

We are looking forward to a year which is "profitable" to our understanding of the Catholic Faith and of the Church in which this Faith is expressed and lives and flourishes.

Coming articles

This year, our tenth, we resume our historical series, first with a two-part series on John Henry Newman (1801-1891). His impact is also important to Canada. From him we move on to the lives of some of our twentieth- century bishops and the issues which concerned them: Neil McNeil, Archbishop of Vancouver (1900-1912) and then of Toronto (1912-1936), in two parts; the Canadian bishops and the CCF (1940); Cardinal McGuigan's life; and the episcopal struggle around the newspaper, and later magazine, The Ensign. We hope to include some social labour history as well.

In coming issues, other articles will discuss strange Catholic views on evolution; the current dilemma of a leading Catholic college; an in-depth view of the Cardinals Ratzinger-Kasper debate; and further reflections on Humanae vitae. We will also review aspects of the developing Catholic-Jewish relationship, the controversy around Pope Pius XII, and recent books on the Church and Jews under the title, "Is Christianity anti-semitic?" Needless to say, in News in Brief we will strive to keep you up-to-date on events in the world and in Canada which impinge on the Catholic perspective.

Above all we will try to keep in mind how magnificent a Faith we have:

"Wisdom and understanding and knowledge of affairs, love and the virtuous path are from the Lord"(+)

(Sirach 11:15).(+)