The Globe celebrates 50 years of spreading the Good News

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Posted April 24, 2003

This month marks the 50th anniversary of The Globe, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Sioux City.

"I would like to congratulate The Globe on their 50 years. We are a small newspaper, but we do what we do well and that is cause for celebration," said Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo, the newspaper's fourth publisher.

The bishop sees the diocesan newspaper as an effective, informational vehicle for Catholics in the Diocese of Sioux City.

"The first value of the newspaper is to communicate the goings on in the diocese and above all to strengthen the communion of the various parishes in the diocese with each other and with the bishop," he explained. "Simultaneously, it allows the bishop to teach and to reach the people of the diocese with letters and information about the diocese."

Personnel from schools, parish religious education programs and other parish ministries have commented that they received program and project ideas via The Globe.

"It is helpful for parishes to see what their sister parishes are doing," said Bishop DiNardo. "It also allows us to celebrate events in our parishes whether it is an anniversary or an award for scouting."

Many of these events are relayed to the staff of The Globe by the correspondent network that was established about nine years ago. This network consists of volunteers who serve as local contacts from about every part of the diocese that feed information to the newspaper.

Bishop DiNardo said that with the newspaper's small staff, it is key that these parish and school volunteers continue to supply The Globe with story ideas and information.

Along with news relating specifically to The Diocese of Sioux City, he noted that it allows parishioners of the diocese to hear about the Catholic faith throughout the nation and the world.

"They need a point of view on their faith that can comment on current news in their area, the nation or the world," he said. "It also allows us to have a sense of our own identity as a diocese, as a local church."

A universal perspective on the church is all the more important today, noted the bishop, when people can "become pretty self-absorbed with local things." The Catholic newspaper enables parishioners to read about current events from a faith perspective. It also allows people the opportunity to see themselves as part of a larger local church - the diocese - as well as the worldwide Catholic Church.

At times, the newspaper will print a summary of a papal letter. This allows for communication of the teachings of the Holy Father.

"Though The Globe always includes some article about national and international news, its focus is really on this local church and faith formation for our people," said Bishop DiNardo. "It is not a large newspaper, but it is a good newspaper. With it being distributed throughout the diocese, it gives everyone at least the possibility of learning where we are and what we are doing in the diocese."

The bishop pointed out that for some people The Globe is the only Catholic periodical they receive in the home.

"For that reason, it is a model for catechesis and outreach on learning the faith," said Bishop DiNardo. "In my mind, that is an important dimension of the paper.

"The Globe can be used for pure information, but it can also be used to deepen your faith. There are articles every week on the Gospels and the teachings of our faith. There are special sections for our young people and youth. It is a modest, but effective way for ongoing formation in the faith - that is one reason why I like it so well."

While other forms of media such as television and radio have made advancements, the bishop pointed out that they are not very feasible means to communicate with parishioners of the diocese mainly due to various market areas for complete coverage of the 24 counties in northwest Iowa.

"In terms of radio and TV, there are possibly four or five distinctive markets in our diocese. It would become extraordinarily expensive to try to reach people through those media on any regular basis. We do it occasionally," noted the bishop. "I think the newspaper is an effective means of communication among the wide geographic basis of our diocese."

The Globe has taken advantage of this new world of technology. It features several stories on the Web each week. 

"In the future, we will no doubt be paying as much attention to the Internet and our Web sites, but the print media is still a good, solid way to get information out," he said.

Since the time of Bishop Mueller, who founded The Globe, Bishop DiNardo said the bishops have seen the value in the diocesan newspaper and he continues to see the benefit of a diocesan newspaper as well.