Be Not Afraid says U.S. Catholic Editor

Heidi Schlumpf shows National Catholic Reporter cover story at Cleveland celebration.

“Mary of Magdala is a model of not being afraid to go and speak the truth. This is the message she has for us all, but for journalists in particular...But first you’ve got to expel those demons,” said Heidi Schlumpf to 150 people at the July 19 Cleveland FutureChurch celebration. Managing Editor of U.S. Catholic, Schlumpf spoke about The Prophetic Voice of Jounalism: What Would Mary of Magdala Say. She named “seven demons” needing to be expelled if journalists are to take Mary of Magdala as their patron. The demons are timidity, blandness, officiousness (too many photos of the bishop), sexism, ageism (too often geared to over 60s), paternalism (avoid controversy because “readers can’t handle it”), and “PR/marketting slant” (the diocesan paper is the mouthpiece for the bishop).

“Many Catholic journalists are frankly fearful for their jobs. If they don’t self-censor, will they passed over for promotion, downsized, or blatantly fired?” Schlumpf said. But then she gave examples of Catholic media who were not afraid to be prophetic such as the National Catholic Reporter for breaking the clergy sex abuse story many years ago, the website bustedhalo.com for a recent courageous article about faithful gay priests and her own publication, U.S. Catholic for being among the few willing to speak to the media about the Vatican’s chilling decision to fire America editor Fr. Thomas Reese.
Schlumpf ended by asking the crowd to remember the first letter of John: “ ‘Whoever fears, has not reached perfection in love … perfect love casts out fear.’ Let us remember that love preached and modeled by Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and all do the same.”

Photos from St. Mary of Magdala Celebrations across the country