The Independent Catholic Press and Vatican II

Abstract

Vatican II, with its updated approaches to ecumenism and religious liberty, church governance and structure, liturgy and laity, brought profound changes to Catholics and to the Catholic press. To appreciate the role of the Catholic press today in the life of the church, the laity, and their interaction with the world, one must understand the history of the diocesan and independent publications, the role of the press in coverage of Vatican II and post-Vatican II Catholic life, and the role of Vatican II in the development of the Catholic press. The Catholic Press Association and the National Catholic War Council, both established in 1911, were two of the milestones in early institutionalized Catholic press history. This article discusses the independent Catholic press and Vatican II. After providing an overview of the Second Vatican Council, it examines liberation theology and the Catholic Church in Latin America and concludes with a discussion of Catholic press in the twenty-first century.