AS I opened the last edition of the Catholic Standard (28 May, 2010), something ran through my mind. I quickly skimmed through the entire paper in less than five minutes. I scanned through the Editorial and letters section and that basically was it. There seemed to be nothing new and exciting to read in the CS anymore. Just imagine a paper which has been in existence for over one hundred years. Has this Catholic publication lost its pizzazz and true purpose as a Catholic instrument of journalism in Guyana?

Surely, this newspaper needs a review and a revised plan to carry out its mandate of being the voice of the Diocese of Georgetown and food for every hungry Catholic (and even non- Catholic) when the weekend arrives – food that would feed their hunger for knowledge, news, expressions and enlightenment of the faith, matters of public interest and so much more. Can ten pages in the CS for the past 100 years do this? I doubt it.
Has the CS progressed after 100 years? I may sound harsh here, but it is only constructive criticism. I have nothing more than respect for the Editor (whom I have met on several occasions) and our diocese here in Guyana. But what really is the purpose of the CS in the life of every single Catholic in Guyana?

Is it giving a donation of $40 dollars every Sunday as someone stands at the church door with a stack of CS in their hands?

Is it just merely giving the small change we have in our pockets to the seller who seems to want to force people to buy the paper these days? Of course not! The CS is a vital tool (or should be anyway) to every single Guyanese (notice I said Guyanese not Catholics only) about what is happening in the life of the Roman Catholic Church in this part of the world, and to present the news and pertinent issues from a religious, moral and Catholic standpoint!

It is a place where Catholics like you and I can express ourselves and sometimes vent our frustrations when the secular world and their publications restrict same. Like the letters I sent to the secular newspapers about the sex abuse scandals and my defense of the church. Do you know that no secular newspaper carried my letters? Only the CS did, and that is what I mean when I say that the CS plays a very important role in living our Catholic faith.

But I really believe that this publication needs an overhaul. Easier said than done? You bet. The priests in this diocese met more than a year ago at Better Hope for their retreat and decided to bring back the diocesan website (dead for over 4 years) to life.

Today, June 2010, that has not materialized. That website, too, like the CS, plays a very important role in our Catholic expressions as Guyanese!
The Catholic Magazine now in recent months, I have observed, has not been showing church events in Guyana any longer. Ever since I knew the Catholic Magazine (it used to be a must- see for me every Sunday evening from 6 – 6:30 pm ever since I could remember, even as Lutheran), it has been bringing Catholics and Guyanese up-to-date on the happenings around the diocese, interviews from local clergy, etc, etc, etc. It’s sad to see what this programme has watered down to. I say no more on that subject.
I would really like to see the CS grow out of the baby- like stage it seems to be in at the moment. Yes, bring more to Catholics on a weekly basis. More pages, more features, more information, more views, among other areas of improvement is what I’d appreciate from this newspaper. Surely, there are competent people at the CS, with support from the laity, of course, who can lift this newspaper out of the dark abyss I believe it is in at the moment.
The size needs to be bigger first of all, and as I said, more pages. Yes, people rush to buy KN and the other secular papers. If they see the CS is offering much more to the wider public, then I am sure, the poor sales of the CS at the moment would be lifted immensely.

After all, the CS is a newspaper with God behind of it all the way; the other newspapers do not have that extra advantage. With God, all things are possible. Keep up the good work, CS, but, please think about what I have mentioned. The CS should be a person’s joy to read, say, on a Sunday.

Surely, we can put a little more effort into it. It has been around longer than any other journalistic publication in Guyana, and has been through quite a lot through the years (you name it, CS has been through it), shouldn’t the CS therefore be the paper in Guyana to lead the way??