Crux partners with Knights of Columbus

Mar 15, 2016 / 14:22 pm

The Catholic news website Crux has announced a partnership with the Knights of Columbus, following the Boston Globe dropping its financial backing of the outlet.

Under the new partnership, Crux will remain an independent news site, headed by veteran Vatican analyst John Allen and reporter Inés San Martín.

"We are thrilled with this partnership with the Knights of Columbus," Allen said in a statement. "The Knights are one of the most dynamic and effective Catholic organizations in the world, and their generosity will help ensure that Crux can continue telling the broad Catholic story."

"Crux is an important voice and key source of news for Catholics and about Catholic issues, and we are very pleased to be able to keep this important voice speaking to the Church and to the world," said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.

The announcement comes four days after Crux announced that the Boston Globe would no longer be running the Catholic site, as of April 1. The Globe cited financial reasons for the decision, pointing to a lack of Catholic advertisers.

Crux was launched in September 2014. It aspired to cover "all things Catholic" with content to appeal to active Catholics, "casual" Catholics who may not be regular Mass attendees, and general readers interested in Pope Francis, religion and spirituality.

At the time of the news site's launch, Allen told CNA that the Catholic Church's global presence and rich traditions justify focused news coverage. "(T)he Catholic Church matters and needs to be taken seriously by mainstream news outlets," he said.

The new partnership will unite Crux with Catholic Pulse, a news and commentary website operated by the Knights of Columbus. In addition to reporting and analysis by Allen and San Martín, the site will feature pieces by guest contributors.

Crux will maintain its editorial freedom, said a statement from the Knights, voicing trust that the website will "present news and commentary in a way that serves the good of the Church."

The statement also noted that while the Knights will be the "main sponsor and partner," Crux will "continue to solicit advertising and may allow some level of additional co-sponsorship," particularly for covering topics of joint interest to the two.

Crux will now feature the tagline, "Keeping its finger on the Catholic Pulse."

"We are very pleased to know that the Knights of Columbus will be sponsoring Crux going forward. The original launch of this innovative forum for reporting news and sharing conversations concerning the Catholic Church was a great encouragement," said Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

Established in 1882, the Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization with almost 1.9 million members across the globe. In 2014, the group raised more than $173.5 million for charity and spent more than 71.5 million hours volunteering.