Los Angeles, Calif., Jun 30, 2016 / 09:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).
The Los Angeles archdiocese is set to launch a new media platform called Angelus News, and it looks to California’s sainted missionary priest for inspiration. “Following on the footsteps of St. Junípero Serra, a man of heroic virtue and holiness who had only one burning ambition — to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the peoples of the New World — we now need to send missionaries to proclaim the Gospel in this new digital era,” Archbishop José Gomez said June 29. He reflected that the Gospel’s message never changes, but Christians “need to always be looking for the ‘language’ that best communicates our Lord’s saving truths.”
The new multimedia platform will include news about the archdiocese’s scores of parishes, schools, and ministries. Its international news coverage will be provided through a partnership with Catholic News Agency. Angelus News will launch July 1, Junipero Serra's first feast day since his canonization. The Franciscan founded many of the missions that later became the centers of major Californian cities. He was the first saint to be canonized on U.S. soil, during Pope Francis’ visit in September 2015.
Users of the archdiocese’s media platform will find a weekly newsmagazine Angelus, a complete daily digital edition at AngelusNews.com, a daily digital newsletter, and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. AngelusNews.com will include video, audio, photo galleries and slideshows updated throughout the day.
The Angelus News name was taken from the name of the archdiocese’s patroness, Mary the Queen of the Angels, as well as from St. Gabriel the Archangel, for whom the first mission built in the archdiocese was named. The Vatican reporters John Allen and Inés San Martín of the news site Crux will be printed in Angelus magazine.
The daily digital newsletter, to launch on July 18, is named “Always Forward,” St. Junípero Serra's motto. J.D. Long-Garcia, editor-in-chief of Angelus News, credited the media platform’s origins to “the hard work of dozens of committed Catholics in the Church in Los Angeles.” “The team came together to find a way to update our news and reporting platforms to better serve contemporary Catholics,” he said.
Other Angelus News contributors include Ruben Navarrette, Kathryn Jean Lopez, Grazie Pozo Christie, and Mike Aquilina. Dr. Scott Hahn will write a weekly Scripture column. Angelus News will continue to host longtime columnists from The Tidings such as Archbishop Jose Gomez, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron, Father Ronald Rolheiser, and Heather King. The Los Angeles archdiocese says its current digital media offerings reach 3-7 million people online each week.
