Catholic New Times ceases publication.

Toronto--At the end of October, just around its 30th anniversary, Diane Bisson, current editor of Catholic New Times announced that the twice-monthly newspaper was to shut down permanently. Its last edition was dated November 26. The CNT publishing team cited as causes for its closing, dwindling subscriptions, advertising, and donations, as well as "the restoration of the pre-Vatican church under John Paul II [which] marginalized many Catholics from church life, undermined their hopes for church renewal, and weakened, if not severed, their concrete relationship with the institutional church." The CNT publishing team remained optimistic that another Catholic publication would arise to take over from CNT, perhaps on the internet.

Founded in 1976 by social activists Sister Mary Jo Leddy and Fr. Gregory Baum, CNT quickly found its place in the vanguard of Canadian Catholics intent upon overturning Catholic moral teachings, especially in the area of sexuality and the celibate priesthood. Its editors, writers and supporters over the 30 years of publication have included a who's who of Catholic dissent in Canada, including former priests and nuns, educators, proponents of same-sex "marriage" and women's ordination, radical feminists, and eco-spiritualists.

In the area of social justice, however, CNT was actually a strong, positive voice for changes within Canada and globally, speaking up on subjects like aboriginal rights, poverty reduction, the sexual abuse of women, racism, and a number of other social issues.

But as Catholic Insight's analysis of CNTs coverage of Catholic morality and doctrine during the period October 2003 till February 2005 found (C.I., April 2005), its "leading articles have broken the last bonds which restrained it from falling out completely with the Church whose ideals it originally claimed to champion. On moral-marital-family issues its contributors now find fault with almost everything Catholic Church leaders say or do, while the positions they hold in opposition to them cannot be classified as Catholic."

CNT spread error and misinformation about Catholic teaching, especially among teachers and religious sisters. It led many Catholics astray. Priests and bishops across Canada contributed to the spread of dissent by allowing CNT to be sold at the back of churches long after its dissent had become clear.

Comment: Let us he brief. CNT chose to interpret the Second Vatican Council through the eyes of its founders, who were off-base already at the time of the paper's foundation. As its last edition acknowledges, CNT did not accept the interpretation provided by the Church's chief teacher, Pope John Paul II, and so it came to grief on the Rock of Peter.

We pray that those who were affiliated with, or influenced by, CNT still come to a right understanding and love of the teachings of the Catholic Church as held by the Magisterium.