Catholic Herald to become a weekly magazine from December

The Catholic Herald is changing from a broadsheet newspaper into a magazine.

The move, which is one of the biggest in the publication’s 126-year history, will take place at the beginning of December.

The first issue of the magazine will be dated December 5 and will contain the same mixture of features, comment pieces, reviews and spiritual reading as the newspaper. But there will be greater emphasis on news analysis, rather than breaking news, which will now appear on the Catholic Herald’s website, which will be relaunched next month.

In an article in this week’s paper and posted on this website, editor Luke Coppen explains that the change was prompted by the election of Pope Francis, which the newspaper was only able to report eight days later because it occurred shortly after the paper’s deadline.

The experience, he says, confirmed that the Catholic Herald was no longer a vehicle for breaking news, but showed there was a need for a publication that explained what was really happening in the Catholic Church.

He writes: “Our new format will take nothing away from the Catholic Herald, but will, we hope, provide added value and intellectual stimulation. You can look forward to more magazine-length features and opinion pieces that reflect the richness, colour and variety of Catholic culture at home and abroad. Some very fine writers have agreed to join us as contributors. We are thrilled by the final designs for the magazine and are confident that you will be, too.”

We will be keeping readers fully up to date on the transition with weekly articles throughout November. Existing subscribers will not be affected by the change.