OSV News

OSV News is a Catholic news agency launched by Our Sunday Visitor on January 1, 2023. It was established as the successor to the United States operations of Catholic News Service, whose domestic service was scheduled to close at the end of 2022. The launch extended Our Sunday Visitor's long-standing role in Catholic publishing into a dedicated contemporary news operation, while preserving continuity with an established national Catholic reporting network. The agency is part of Our Sunday Visitor, a Catholic publishing organization based in Huntington, Indiana. Our Sunday Visitor traces its institutional origins to 1912, when Father John F. Noll founded the weekly newspaper Our Sunday Visitor in response to anti-Catholic publications and the need for accessible Catholic education and information. Over time, the organization expanded beyond its newspaper into periodicals, books, catechetical materials, parish resources, digital services and other forms of religious publishing. OSV News represents the news-agency component of that broader publishing house. In announcing the new service in 2022, Our Sunday Visitor said it would acquire the digital archives of Catholic News Service and make those materials available for consultation by OSV News subscribers. The new agency's website was also planned to use the former Catholic News Service web address, providing a degree of continuity for readers and subscribing Catholic institutions. The transition was presented as a relaunch of Catholic news coverage rather than simply a new publication disconnected from the previous service. Gretchen R. Crowe, who had served as editorial director for periodicals at Our Sunday Visitor, was named editor-in-chief of the future agency in August 2022. In September of that year, the publisher said it would reemploy three veteran Catholic News Service journalists for the launch. These steps gave OSV News an editorial team with experience in Catholic reporting and helped connect the new agency to the institutional knowledge of its predecessor. OSV News primarily serves Catholic newspapers, dioceses, parishes, religious organizations and other subscribers seeking reporting and editorial material related to the Catholic Church. Its scope is associated with United States Catholic life and with topics relevant to the church's North American audience, including church leadership, diocesan affairs, religious practice, public issues and developments affecting Catholics. The service operates within the editorial and institutional context of Our Sunday Visitor rather than as a publicly listed independent media corporation. OSV News should be distinguished from the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper and from the wider Our Sunday Visitor publishing business. The agency is a specific news-service brand created in 2023, while its parent organization has a much older publishing history. In July 2024, Our Sunday Visitor separately announced that its weekly newspaper would move toward a monthly lifestyle-magazine format, an adjustment concerning the parent organization's periodical publishing and not evidence that OSV News itself had ceased operations.

OSV News emerged from the long publishing history of Our Sunday Visitor, a Catholic organization founded in 1912 by Father John F. Noll in Huntington, Indiana. Noll initially created the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper as a response to anti-Catholic literature and as a means of educating Catholics about their faith and public life. The newspaper developed into a large Catholic publishing enterprise that later produced periodicals, books, religious education materials, parish resources and digital services. The immediate institutional background for OSV News was the planned closure of the United States operations of Catholic News Service. In July 2022, Our Sunday Visitor announced that it would establish a new agency, named OSV News, with a launch date of January 1, 2023. The move was intended to maintain a national Catholic news-service function for subscribing publications and institutions after the domestic CNS operation ended. Our Sunday Visitor also announced plans to acquire the digital archives of Catholic News Service and make them available for consultation by OSV News subscribers. The planned use of the former CNS website address was another element of the transition. Editorial leadership was organized before the launch. In August 2022, Gretchen R. Crowe was named editor-in-chief of the future agency. Crowe had been associated with Our Sunday Visitor's periodicals operation and had served as editorial director for periodicals. In September, the publisher said that three veteran Catholic News Service journalists would be reemployed for the new service. Their participation provided reporting experience connected to the Catholic news-service tradition and supported continuity during the institutional change. OSV News began operations on January 1, 2023. Its role is distinct from the weekly Our Sunday Visitor newspaper and from the parent organization's book, education and parish-resource businesses. OSV News functions as a dedicated agency supplying Catholic reporting and related editorial material, principally for Catholic media outlets, dioceses, parishes, religious institutions and other subscribers. Its creation made Our Sunday Visitor an operator not only of a historic Catholic newspaper and publishing house but also of a modern news-service brand. The agency's development took place as the parent company continued to adjust its broader media portfolio. In July 2024, Our Sunday Visitor announced that its weekly newspaper would transition to a monthly lifestyle-magazine format. That change concerned the parent organization's periodical title and should not be treated as a discontinuation of OSV News. Available reference material identifies OSV News as an active Catholic news agency under Our Sunday Visitor, although detailed public information about its later corporate structure, financial performance and executive succession is limited.

1. 2023OSV News begins operations

   OSV News launched on January 1 as Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic news agency.

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2. 2022Our Sunday Visitor announces OSV News

   Our Sunday Visitor announced plans to create OSV News after the planned closure of Catholic News Service's United States operation, including a proposed acquisition of CNS digital archives.

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3. 2022Gretchen Crowe appointed editor-in-chief

   Gretchen Crowe was named editor-in-chief of the planned agency.

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4. 2022Veteran Catholic News Service journalists selected for the launch

   Our Sunday Visitor said that three experienced Catholic News Service journalists would join the new agency.

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A Catholic news agency providing reporting and editorial resources for Catholic media, dioceses, parishes, religious organizations and other subscribers, with continuity from the former United States operations of Catholic News Service.

• OSV News agency coverageNews agency service2023

  OSV News provides Catholic news reporting and editorial material for subscribing Catholic publications, dioceses, parishes, religious organizations and related institutions. The service was created to continue a national Catholic news-service function after the planned closure of Catholic News Service's United States operation.

• Catholic News Service digital archivesDigital archive2023

  As part of the 2022 transition plan, Our Sunday Visitor announced that it would acquire Catholic News Service's digital archives and permit OSV News subscribers to consult the material. The archives provide historical reference continuity between the former service and the new agency.

• 2022Launch of OSV NewsProduct launch

  Catholic News Service's United States operation was scheduled to close at the end of 2022, creating a need for a successor service for Catholic media and institutional subscribers.

  What changed. Our Sunday Visitor announced a new agency, OSV News, with a January 1, 2023 launch date, and planned to make Catholic News Service digital archives available to subscribers.

  Aftermath. OSV News began operations in 2023 under Our Sunday Visitor, with Gretchen Crowe as editor-in-chief and several veteran CNS journalists included in the launch staffing plan.

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• 2023OSV News launches as a Catholic news agency

  OSV News began operations on January 1, 2023, as the news agency established by Our Sunday Visitor after the planned end of Catholic News Service's United States operation.

  Product launch
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• 2022Our Sunday Visitor announces creation of OSV News after planned closure of Catholic News Service's United States operation

  Our Sunday Visitor announced that it would launch OSV News on January 1, 2023, following the planned closure of the United States services of Catholic News Service. The publisher also announced plans to acquire Catholic News Service's digital archives for use by OSV News subscribers.

  Product launchM&A
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• 2022Gretchen Crowe named editor-in-chief of future OSV News

  Our Sunday Visitor named Gretchen Crowe, its periodicals editorial director, to lead the planned Catholic news agency.

  Leadership change
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1. Our Sunday Visitor
2. OSV News