Our Way to a Century

by Editor · April 29, 2018

For almost half of the 200-year existence of the Catholic Church in South Africa, this newspaper has edified, educated and entertained many generations of the faithful.

In two years’ time, in October 2020, we will celebrate the 100th birthday of The Southern Cross, being able to reflect on a century of spreading the Good News (and sometimes also the inconvenient truths).

But, like a cricket batsman going through the nervous 90s, we are currently sitting on a jittery 97 not out. And we are facing a spell of bouncers on our way to lifting the bat. After a few successive years of recording small profits — which for The Southern Cross means breaking even — the current financial cycle is hitting us hard. We will make a substantial loss.

After a few successive years of recording small profits — which for The Southern Cross means breaking even — the current financial cycle is hitting us hard. We will make a substantial loss.

And since the crippling postal strike in late 2014 depleted much of our reserves, which we have not managed to fully replenish, our capacity to absorb heavy losses is diminished, especially since we receive no subsidies of any kind.

In plain text: The Southern Cross cannot survive many more years such as the current one.

The fact that this thunderbolt year follows a sustained period of holding steady assures us that we are generally on the right fiscal path, also thanks to the generosity of the contributors to our Associates Campaign. The board of directors of the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co, which publishes The Southern Cross (the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference owns 51% of the company), has therefore decided to raise the cover price to R10 as of May

But strong immediate action needs to be taken, especially after the shock of the unexpected VAT increase. The board of directors of the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co, which publishes The Southern Cross (the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference owns 51% of the company), has therefore decided to raise the cover price to R10 as of May.

We are confident that the quality of The Southern Cross continues to justify the cover price, and that our readers will remain loyal.

At the same time, our faithful staff are making significant financial sacrifices to aid this newspaper.

These two measures will go a long way to alleviating the effects of a bad year. But our focus must be not only on the audits at the end of our fiscal year but also on the long-term survival of The Southern Cross.

And the survival of our only national Catholic weekly is in the interests of the entire local Church. One of the great problems South Africa’s Church faces is in bridging the various divides between its members, especially in terms of geographic and demographic background. In what is essentially a divided Church, The Southern Cross serves the function of bringing people together, across the provinces and across the race groups. The Southern Cross is a meeting place of Catholics who normally do not meet one another.

In what is essentially a divided Church, The Southern Cross serves the function of bringing people together, across the provinces and across the race groups. The Southern Cross is a meeting place of Catholics who normally do not meet one another.

We see that in the pages of The Southern Cross, and we see that even more clearly in our vibrant social media presence.

It would be a tragedy for the local Church if this one meeting place for the whole Church were to disappear.

For the bishops and clergy of our region, who are rightly concerned about division in the local Church, it should be an imperative to deliberately advance The Southern Cross in their dioceses, making the newspaper known in parishes that don’t know it and urging its concerted promotion in communities where it already has a presence.

And the time to act on that is now! But we know that in the rapidly changing newspaper environment, the old model of surviving on sales and advertising alone will not work much longer, and new ways of generating revenue will be required.

But we know that in the rapidly changing newspaper environment, the old model of surviving on sales and advertising alone will not work much longer, and new ways of generating revenue will be required.

We are currently identifying additional streams of revenue, but even these efforts are constrained by our limited resources, which impede the appointment of a suitably qualified business facilitator with the requisite entrepreneurial competence.

These alternative streams of revenue will subsidise The Southern Cross in its core function, which is to serve the Church’s social communications apostolate as a newspaper in print and digital format, and increasingly through our social media presence.

Even as the dark clouds of precarious finances hang above us, we remain confident in God’s providence and passionate about our exciting plans for the future. Let the Church come together so that in October 2020, The Southern Cross can raise the bat to celebrate its century!

We hope that our readers will see the new price not only as a measure to ensure that we weather the present difficulties but also as an investment in our future, and thereby in the future of our Church.

Let the Church come together so that in October 2020, The Southern Cross can raise the bat to celebrate its century!