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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 19, 2019
CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 19, 2019
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TO OUR READERS:
10 ways CSF made a difference in 2019 and newsletter subscriptions up nearly 50%. Monthly digital impressions increased to 50,000, making total impressions 150,000 a month when combined with print home delivery. We made a renewed commitment to immediacy in sharing Catholic news wherever it happens in the world, and posting all the latest from and about the archdiocese. Facebook became a candid but civil conversation space for Catholics from many places and on many topics. Topics of high interest to Facebook users include Pope Francis, Archbishop Cordileone, clergy and seminarians of the archdiocese, affirmation of the fundamentals of the faith in teaching, liturgy and devotion, and solidarity with Catholics suffering persecution in Latin America and South and East Asia.
RICK DELVECCHIO CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
The Catholic San Francisco staff had five top goals in mind when we started our 20th anniversary year as the official news organization of the archdiocese: 1. CONTINUOUS REFLECTION ON OUR MISSION TO INFORM, EVANGELIZE, INSPIRE AND SERVE 2. EXPANDING OUR IMPACT IN PRINT AND SCREEN 3. RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING WITHIN OUR TEAM AND WITH CONSTITUENTS
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As the year ends, we wanted to share highlights of 10 ways we turned these goals into action through articles and other efforts.
YEARS
CSF
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PERSON-CENTERED STORIES: Pro-life leader Ron Konopaski on winning national recognition for his decades of volunteer witness for life; the homeless men and women who work at Half Moon Bay’s Potrero Nuevo Farm; Shelby on how his Catholic faith helps sustain him in his difficult life on the streets of San Francisco; 19-year-old Nicholas Peters’ gift of his last months of life to help the needy; an outing with 90-year-old Salesian Father Armand Oliveri; an interview with the new superior of the Order of Preachers; 18-year-old Georgia Westfall’s conversion from atheism at the Easter Vigil at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish (Mill Valley); Julio Lopez’ story of escape with his family from violence in Honduras, and their welcoming by Our Lady of the Pillar Parish; video interviews with seminarians on the eve of their priestly ordination; “Kimberley’s” story of recovery at Epiphany Center; a remembrance of Margaret “Peg” Gleason’s life in marriage and family ministry.
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SOLIDARITY WITH CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN ACTION. The fight against the California Senate bill threatening the seal of confession; at a time of threats to freedom of conscience, Catholic medical professionals organize in San Francisco; volunteers from parishes includ-
Georgia Westfall. “Atheist to Catholic: One young woman’s unexpected conversion,” April 18, 2019.
Sister Mary Francis. “Newly professed Dominican sister: ‘This life is not Plan B,’” May 2, 2019.
Julio López. “Migrant family from Honduras finds welcome in Half Moon Bay,” May 16, 2019.
Jonathan Campos. “Brazilian-Catholic musician seeks to ‘internationalize’ Christian music,” Sept. 26, 2019.
Ron Konopaski. “Local pro-life leader wins national award,” Aug. 22, 2019.
Natalie Mazzanti. “Change by the bushel: Farm program helps homeless,” May 16, 2019.
Deacon Ian Quito. “Newly ordained deacons lean on ‘God’s grace’ for service to church,” May 2, 2019.
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5. BRINGING THE GOSPEL HOME WITH MORE PERSONCENTERED AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE STORIES OF VOCATION, DEVOTION, WITNESS AND CONVERSION
SPOTLIGHTING THE FAITH IN CULTURAL SETTINGS. San Rafael School’s outreach to all in its diverse community; Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in rural Tomales celebrates its patron’s feast; Brazilian Catholic musician Jonathan Campos’ project to “internationalize” Christian music; Corpus Christi Parish celebrates the feast of Divino Salvador del Mundo, El Salvador’s national feast day; in North Beach, Madonna del Lume shines light on Sicilian tradition; the Chinese community gathers at St. Anne of the Sunset Church to pray for peace in Hong Kong; a seminary celebration of the Philippines’ patron saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila; a Black Catholic History Month discussion of the U.S. bishops’ letter against racism.
Nicholas Peters. “Local teenager spends his last months in presence to others,” Nov. 7, 2019.
SUPPORTING THE SPANISH PASTORAL COMMUNICATIONS MISSION. We coordinated with the archdiocese’s Spanish newspaper, San Francisco Católico, to upgrade delivery of the bimonthly paper. We developed a new website for Católico and began sharing local stories by Católico staff in CSF.
4. HANDS-ON HELP FOR PARISHES TO CONNECT WITH CSF
RENEWING PRAYER, THE SACRAMENTS, VOCATIONS AND FAMILY. A 17-page guide to living Archbishop Cordileone’s consecration of the archdiocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in response to the archbishop’s renewing his call to observe the consecration in regular practice; four priests discuss their roles as confessors; 31 couples renew their vows at a group wedding at the Mission District’s St. Peter Church; Holy Hour for vocations with the archbishop at St. Pius Church; pictorial coverage of the triduum with the archbishop at St. Mary’s Cathedral; updated listings of parish rosary and adoration schedules in the archdiocese; expanded advertising to promote vocations. interview with retired auxiliary Bishop Ignatius C. Wang on the 60th anniversary of his ordination; Deacons Ian Quito and Benjamin Rosado on their vocation journeys.
Bishop Ignatius C. Wang. “‘Rejoice always,’ Bishop Wang says on 60th anniversary of priesthood,” July 25, 2019.
SINCE 1999
ing St. Ignatius, St. Agnes and Our Lady of Angels respond to the humanitarian crisis on the border as northbound migrant families await action on their asylum requests; a Catholic Charities team reaches out to the homeless in Bayview-Hunters Point; Ramon and Patricia Marquez’ volunteer outreach to youths in the juvenile justice system in San Francisco.
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RECONNECTING WITH THE PARISHES. Sandy Finnegan, the paper’s subscriber and donor services coordinator, also serves as a CSF ambassador to the parishes. She developed a brochure for parishes to share on how to access the paper, and is working with them to provide updated parishioner lists so new members can receive the free paper at home. In 2020, Sandy plans to continue reaching out to the larger parishes, focusing on the Peninsula and working up to Marin County, with the goal of adding as many new names to the CSF circulation as possible over the next 12 months. In addition, we met with new pastors at the chancery and shared the four main ways the content of the paper can support their ministries: event listings, articles, advertising and outreach through the Spanish paper.
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BROADCASTING OUR WORK ON FACEBOOK AND THE INTERNET. We began systematic development of a digital publishing platform in early 2019. Since then, website visits have been up more than three-fold in our strongest months. Facebook engagement is up fortyfold
PUBLISHING AN IMPROVED VERSION OF THE OFFICIAL DIRECTORY. A pictorial version of the archdiocese’s Official Directory, spiral-bound and on glossy stock, was a new product launch this year. The 2020 edition will be out in January.
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MAINTAINING A HIGH STANDARD OF STEWARDSHIP. CSF as a pastoral communications organization is partially self-funded by business operations. Our advertising and donor revenue streams are strong. We monitor these financial resources to focus on what’s essential to the mission, minimizing non-essential costs and investing a portion in productivity improvements and new creative efforts.
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ADDING A PERSONAL TOUCH. When a parishioner working on a parish history called to ask if we had a photo for her work, we found one. When a reader working on another history project asked for help looking up the names of all the bishops in the archdiocese, we found what he needed. When a pastor asked if we could provide copies of the paper for tourists who visit his church, we followed up with a letter and a parcel of copies. When a reader asked for copies of an issue with a picture of his grandfather who served in the military, we sent them the same day. We began the year by reflecting on how to continue coverage of the clergy abuse crisis and the institutional response that preoccupied the U.S. church in 2018. Associate editor Christina Gray and reporter Nick Smith interviewed lay persons in the pews and learned from them that the revelations had not broken their attraction to the church and to Christ. Remaining open-hearted in a faith running deeper than temporal problems, they showed what it means to be a church that “walks together,” as Pope Francis puts it, in good, bad or confusing times. “Christ promised we will not be orphaned, and that promise is sure,” CSF columnist Father Ron Rolheiser wrote in November. “God is still with us, and our age will produce its own prophets and saints.” Looking back over the headlines of 2019 reminds us of how true that statement is and gives us great hope for the coming year as CSF begins its third decade. RICK DELVECCHIO is editor/general manager of Catholic San Francisco. THANKS TO ALL FROM STAFF AND CONSULTANTS ON THE CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO/SAN FRANCISCO CATOLICO TEAM: Tom Burke, Dennis Callahan, Joel Carrico, Rick DelVecchio, Sandy Finnegan, Christina Gray, Deb Greenblat, Chandra Kirtman, Karessa McCartney, Mary Podesta, Marta Rebagliati, Lorena Rojas, Kevin Shanley, Nick Smith, Heidi Thompson, Lidia Wasowicz. Mike Brown, Communications Director for the archdiocese, is associate publisher. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone is publisher. Sunday Scripture reflections by Father William Nicholas, Deacon Faiva Po’oi, Father Charles Puthota, Sister Maria Catherine Toon. Diana Powell edits the Official Directory. Thanks to Father Puthota, Father Moises Agudo, Deacon Mario Zuniga and the volunteers of the Pastoral Hispana for special support this year.
2019 Catholic faces in the news CSF’s most popular stories, posts and videos of 2019 Two articles by associate editor Christina Gray, “Confessors on confession” (April 2) and “Local teenager spends last months in presence to others” (Nov. 4), the story of the 19-year-old Nicholas Peters of San Carlos, were the runaway favorites for catholic-sf.org website views in 2019. Nick’s story was also one of the most engaged on Facebook.
CSF’S TOP LOCAL WEBSITE STORIES ALSO INCLUDED:
1. Death of Auxiliary Bishop Robert F. Christian 2. Fight against bill threatening confessional seal 3. Death of Cardinal William J. Levada 4. Star of the Sea School closing, and reaction 5. Seminary celebrates Philippines’ patron saint
6. Rosary Rally brings Catholic witness downtown 7. Dominican sister professes vows 8. Seminarian profiles, and their ordination 9. 31 couples affirm vows at St. Peter Church 10. Catholic schools welcome 10 new principals
CSF’S MOST-ENGAGED FACEBOOK POSTS, IN ADDITION TO SOME ON THE LIST ABOVE, INCLUDED:
1. UC Santa Cruz removes Mission bell 2. Amazon synod statue thrown in Tiber 3. Pope Francis’ call to go out and meet the poor 4. Pope Francis’ apostolic letter on Nativity scenes: Beatification of Zimbabwe’s John Bradburne 5. Nicaragua’s Catholics undergo government oppression
6. Religious persecution in South, East Asia 7. Priests, parishioners in China barricade themselves in church 8. Pro-life hero Ron Konopaski wins national award 9. Nun who threw a perfect curveball 10. Father Rolheiser: “Who goes to hell and who doesn’t?”
CSF’S MOST-VIEWED FACEBOOK VIDEOS:
1. Priests sing “Salve Regina” at Bishop Christian’s funeral 2. An outing with Salesian Father Armand Oliveri 3. St. Jude pilgrimage 4. Rosary Rally 5. Interview with Deacon Kyle Faller 6. Interview with Deacon Ernesto Jandonero