John Higgins:
A new editor at America magazine
Planned and discussed in March
John
This editorial from Reese sounds like he was canned for his heterodoxy.
Of Many Things
By Thomas J. Reese
By now most of you have learned from the media that I have resigned as editor in chief of America and that Drew Christiansen, S.J., will take over on June 1. He will be a terrific editor and has my full support. No one should cancel his or her subscription out of a false sense of loyalty to me. America is alive and well and in good hands with Drew, whom I recruited, and the other editors. I want to thank America’s readers and benefactors for their support. Editors often complain that they hear only from people who are upset by what they publish, but over the years that has not been our experience. And in the three days after my resignation became public, we received around 600 e-mails of support, plus uncounted phone calls. This has meant a great deal to me, since I had expected to ride off quietly into the sunset.
It has been a great seven years. I am proud of what my colleagues and I have accomplished during this time. We went from a predominantly gray journal to a full-color magazine with beautiful art and photos. The major credit for this goes to Jim Martin, S.J., who solicits the art, and Tatyana Borodina, who lays out the magazine so beautifully. Bob Collins, S.J., our managing editor, oversees the production process and makes sure that no typos get past his keen eye. One of the dirty little secrets of America is the fact that I cannot spell. Bob has also kept up with the latest technological developments in publishing so that we could improve the look of the magazine without increasing costs.
Besides all the color, the most notable change I made in the magazine was the addition of the news section, which we call Signs of the Times. Being a news junkie, I have enjoyed putting this together on Wednesday evenings from material derived mostly from Catholic News Service. Although America does not cover the news as comprehensively as The National Catholic Reporter, these two or three pages of news are an important service to our readers. I am confidently turning this over to another news junkie, Dennis Linehan, S.J., who as a historian has an eye for detail and an understanding of the big picture.
The innovation that has consumed much of my time as editor has been the development of our Web site,
www.americamagazine.org. When I arrived seven years ago, our Web presence was minimal. We now have on the Web every issue from January 2000 to the present. We regret that access for the most recent year is restricted to subscribers, but without an endowment, we have to rely on subscription receipts to pay the bills. Despite these restrictions, during the first week of April we had over 100,000 visitors–twice the number of subscribers to our print edition.
But the greatest challenge at America was running a journal of opinion when some in the church do not want opinions expressed. I tried to make America a magazine for thinking Catholics and those who want to know what Catholics are thinking–not an easy task, but one we worked at.
As I begin to pack my bags for a return to California, I cannot think of a better person to take over America than Father Drew Christiansen. His expertise in Catholic social teaching, his experience in international relations and politics and his concern for the life of the church make him an ideal editor. I was delighted when I was able to recruit him from the Woodstock Theological Center and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002. Readers of America will remember his insightful and comprehensive articles on the Middle East, the just war theory, the environment and ecumenism.
“May you live in interesting times” is supposed to be a Chinese curse. These certainly are interesting times in the life of the church. But life in the church has never been dull. The road is often rocky and uphill. That is why we must keep our eyes on the Lord, who must be the goal of all our efforts. Because of his faithfulness toward us, we must never lose hope or lessen our love for his church. Please continue to support America in its service to the church and the Lord.
