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One year ago, Crisis Magazine and the Morley Institute for Church and Culture merged into a single online presence, and InsideCatholic.com was born.
Since that time, we've been thrilled with the growth and success of the site. We have many more regular readers now than we ever did with the print magazine. And because the Internet is open to anyone, we're able to reach those who would never have picked up an issue of Crisis Magazine. In fact, for some Catholics suffering persecution around the world, InsideCatholic is one of their only outlets for news and fellowship with other believers. (We routinely get visitors from China, Burma, India, Indonesia, and throughout the Middle East.)
This is a new day and Catholic apostolates must be ready to take advantage of technology to further the cause of Christ. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Internet is the future of media communications. That's why we knew it was vital to create an online home for faithful Catholics -- both now, and for the future.
Of course, there are some other very good Catholic sites out there, and we're happy for it. Spreading the truth about Christ and His Church will take a lot more than one Website, and we're honored to be part of the larger effort.
But we also believe InsideCatholic.com has a unique mission... More than just a Website, we're creating a place where faithful Catholics from all backgrounds and perspectives can come together to read, discuss, and debate stimulating (sometimes challenging) articles, columns, reviews, videos, podcasts, and blog posts.
Think of InsideCatholic.com as the watercooler for the Catholic Church.
On an average day at InsideCatholic, you'll find...
- Two new stories each weekday, and one over the weekend. That's a total of 48 articles, columns, and reviews each month -- and that's not even counting the blog posts. Compare that to the 12 articles and columns we carried in each monthly issue of Crisis.
We've expanded our editorial content by over 400%... and we offer it free!
- Vibrant discussion and debate -- carried out within the bounds of charity (well, usually). In moving online, we've expanded our editorial coverage to include the full range of political, cultural, social, and theological views allowable to the faithful Catholic. As a result, InsideCatholic.com has become a destination point for substantive discussion.
Do you have something to say? Come to InsideCatholic.com. You'll get your comments in front of a lot of eyes, very quickly. And you'll get feedback from other Catholics who may agree or disagree.
- The InsideBlog -- an ongoing conversation between eleven faithful Catholics who share quite different political and cultural opinions. We talk about everything under the sun... film, theology, politics, art, history, sports, the news of the day... even computer gaming. And all of it, from a Catholic perspective.
- Every day, we comb the Internet to find interesting and entertaining videos to feature on our home page. Some, like the pro-life ″The Baby in the Box,″ we create ourselves. Others, we find elsewhere. But either way, we save you the trouble of hunting down the videos by putting them in one place. All you need to do is click and watch.
- And then there are our weekly email updates, keeping you informed of the latest breaking news... and the free downloadable audio programs...
- If you don't like reading articles on a computer screen, we've got you covered there as well. Every Friday, all the articles of the past week are collected into an attractive magazine and uploaded to the Website for you to download or print. If you miss holding Crisis in your hands as you read, here's the solution.
Just click on the ″Inside Digest″ button on the left side of the screen to get to that page.
- And of course there are our Special Reports... such as our informative and fully-printable 25 page report, ″How To Vote Catholic.″
We give you full permission to forward, print out, or photocopy our Special Reports and distribute them as you like. (Maybe at your local parish!) While that may sound surprising for a publication to give away its material for free, the fact is, we're an apostolate, and the mission is more important than following up on copyright questions. We just want to see the information we produce in as many hands as possible.
That's a pretty impressive line-up, we think. And all of this is completely free. We no longer print a magazine, and so we no longer sell subscriptions. But of course, the Website still has expenses... staff salaries, Web hosting and maintenance, author fees, etc. The cost to us is manageable, but we need your help to do it.
We've been online for over a year, and we haven't once asked for a donation. We don't like being pestered with money requests any more than you do. But we need your help to continue our important mission. Can we count on you to support the continuing work of InsideCatholic?
We have some exciting plans for early 2009 -- including a regular video podcast featuring the InsideCatholic.com staff, writers, and friends.
But in the meantime, we need your support. Will you stand with us by making a donation? It doesn't have to be dramatic (though if you want to get dramatic, we won't complain).
$10... $20... $50... Just give what you think is fair. That's all we ask.
All the best,
Deal, Brian, Margaret, Zoe and the entire InsideCatholic.com team
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