NCR at 60 years

As NCR commits to cover the response of the church to the onslaught of cruelty coming from the Trump administration, this 1970 article — recounting the story of Catholic prelates helping secure table grape contracts — rings a bell.

In 1963, Jesuit Fr. John Courtney Murray gave a speech to journalists that became National Catholic Reporter's manifesto when the newspaper debuted a year later. It remains our guiding force today.

As we pray for the health of Pope Francis, we contemplate the future of the church and think about past papal transitions. This 1978 NCR story was published following the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II. 

At Corpus Christi Parish in 1997, NCR uncovered the groundbreaking ministry of Fr. James Callan, a priest whose daring vision would soon shake the foundations of ecclesiastical authority in Rochester, New York.

It is the beginning of a new administration and the U.S. bishops' conference is suddenly at odds with the president on many issues. But in agreement on others. It is not 2025, but 1981, and NCR previewed Reagan's incoming administration.

Forty years ago this June, the National Catholic Reporter began publishing stories about U.S. Catholic priests sexually abusing children. This is an NCR editorial that ran with that first coverage in 1985.

Seymour Hersh, one of the most famous U.S. investigative reporters, wrote for the National Catholic Reporter in the 1960s. In a 1967 article, he attacked the integrity and credibility of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.

In April 1967, National Catholic Reporter published the secret recommendations of the papal birth control commission. The story was emblematic of how NCR revolutionized journalistic coverage of the Catholic Church.

In this NCR news report originally published Nov. 24, 1989, readers learn about the shocking massacre of Jesuit priests at the Central American University in San Salvador, which had occurred eight days earlier. 

The following staff editorial was published four days before the general election of 1972, when Richard Nixon won his second term in a landslide. You'll notice continuity between the paper then and now.

Courage is deeply embedded in the DNA of National Catholic Reporter. So, you might be asking, if we are so fearless, why don't we endorse a candidate? This year, endorsements have become more than an academic question.

Today, Oct. 28, 2024, is National Catholic Reporter's 60th birthday. To celebrate six decades as the independent voice for and about Catholics, we are launching a new feature republishing articles from our past.

During Vatican II, a group of Catholics in Kansas City decided laypeople should take the lead in church journalism. The result was the National Catholic Reporter, a key player in the life of the U.S. church since 1964.