February is the time traditionally set aside to celebrate the work of the Catholic Press. While I haven’t been able to pinpoint when this practice began, Catholic Press Month is the subject of a Time magazine article dated Feb. 4, 1924. Even though the Catholic press in the United States seems to have been in its infancy at the time, many of the sentiments of this 86-year-old story can still be applied today.

Of the occasion, the article states, “Bishops and priests will call attention to the need of strengthening the Catholic press and will outline its mission — to give Catholics an accurate account of events in which they are interested.”

This is certainly still the case today. In the newspapers and news programs I watch, it is a rare day that I read or see any coverage of the church. Many newsworthy items — pro-life marches, statements made by the Holy Father, works of charity organized by local parishioners — go largely unreported.

That’s where the Catholic press steps in. The Catholic Chronicle fills that niche of reporting on stories of interest to Catholics and those pertaining to the worldwide Catholic church.

The Time article also quotes then-Bishop Louis H. Walsh of Portland. He was also chairman of the department of press publicity and literature for the National Catholic Welfare Conference when he said, “The Catholic press in the United States has been doing a wonderful work with meager resources and under many other even greater handicaps.”

I’m not sure what was considered “meager resources” or “even greater handicaps” in 1924, but it sounds like things haven’t changed much for the Catholic press in more than three-quarters of a century. Our resources are still meager and our challenges many. Even as far back as 1911, a history of the Catholic Press Association points to some of the same functions the association works on today. More than 100 years ago, the group was organized to publicize Catholic news, secure national advertising and “agitate against higher postal rates.” That last one is a battle that will go on as long as there’s postal service, I suspect.

A new challenge we have encountered is delivering the news in more than one medium. The journalists of 1924 would not have had to think about sharing the news in any form other than ink and paper. Today, we have to avail ourselves not only of newsprint, but of the Internet and mobile technologies. Even as a fresh-faced graduate more than 20 years ago, I never would have dreamed that I would need to know how update a website (mostly because I did not even know such a thing existed), let alone make a movie or other audio/visual experience to be accessed by anyone in any part of the world at any time of day.

The Time story further states, “The Holy Father [Pope Pius XI] expressed the wish that ‘the greatest advantage should be gained by those Catholics who by the publication of newspapers and other writings illustrate, promote and defend Christian doctrine.’ ”

My hope is that those who read the Catholic Chronicle, either in print or online, still gain that advantage and choose — especially during Catholic Press Month — to promote it to their friends and family.