Imagine a Church Without The Southern Cross…

The past few years have been rough on The Southern Cross, as it has been on most newspapers throughout the world.

This is especially so since The Southern Cross is entirely independent and unsubsidised. We survive solely on revenue and the kind support of our readers.

The changing face of media, the economic crisis, and spiralling costs of production have hit us hard. Our loyal staff have had to make sacrifices just so this newspaper can continue publishing every week, as it has done for more than 5000 consecutive weeks since 1920.

A Bad Year

The Post Office’s chronic unreliability and periodic strikes have affected our income to such an extent that we have had to draw from our reserves just to continue operation. We have recovered only partially from the effects of the crippling postal strike in late 2014.

For the past couple of years we managed to avoid making a loss, but we know that one or two really bad years could destroy The Southern Cross.

Due to various factors out of our control, we are facing such a bad year at the moment — and we need to take action.

One such action will be to raise the cover price again next month, after we found that the 50c increase in January will not help us — and even less so with the postal, printing and VAT increases! This is a necessary intervention to ensure that you will keep receiving your weekly Catholic newspaper every week in your preferred format: paper or digital.

By remaining loyal to The Southern Cross, YOU are helping it to survive.

There are other ways you can help.

Firstly, you can promote The Southern Cross in your parish and among your Catholic friends.

Parishes which have a dedicated team of Southern Cross promoters do better than parishes that don’t. And those where the priest talks about interesting items in that week’s issue record better sales.

Those who can afford it, can support The Southern Cross by contributing the Associates Campaign, which has already helped us navigate stormy seas.

Launched in 2002 to help us build up reserves and undertake important outreach work, The Associates’ Campaign is crucial in keeping The Southern Cross alive. To find out more, please e-mail or call 021 465-5007 or visit www.scross.co.za/associates-campaign for details.

In the meantime, imagine a South African Church without The Southern Cross!

And please pray for us!