Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese ends ‘The Catholic Key’ newspaper

The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph no longer has its own newspaper. “The Catholic Key” has stopped publication.

“The Catholic Key” had been published since 1968, and the 27 counties in the diocese have had some form of newspaper since 1880. The diocese said the move was part of the restructuring of its communications department

“Our Mutually Shared Vision, the diocesan pastoral plan, continually challenges us to keep evaluating the best means and practices in reaching today’s world for sharing the Gospel and serving the Church’s mission,” its website said. “Due to many factors identified over the past several years and deliberations initiated prior to the pandemic, as well as these recent months, a crossroads was reached.

“All diocesan digital communication will continue, and new print media will be explored in the future to communicate the local church’s mission and message as the entire communications department is being re-envisioned.”

“The Leaven,” the publication of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., continues publication. It typically comes out weekly during the school year and bimonthly in the summer.

Diocesan spokeswoman Ashlie Hand said that print media would continue to play an important role in how the diocese communicates, “and we are evaluating options for a new publication now.”

In the meantime, Hand said, other options to access information from the diocese include the website, at KCSJCatholic.org; social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@DKCSJ); parish bulletins; email and Catholic radio.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph also announced that it has hired Hand as its new director of communications. She has filled the position left vacant when Jack Smith died in December after a short illness.

“As a life-long Catholic, it is truly an honor to have the opportunity to apply my two decades of communications experience and community development in the KC region to support the important work of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph,” she said.

The Metro Voice stopped its Kansas City print edition in February of 2018 to focus on its own digital presence. Since that time, Metro Voice has gained a national audience, moving into the top 1/5 of 1 percent of all websites in the nation.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice