All hail Jack!

A Wednesday Pillar Post

Hey everybody,

This is not a Tuesday Pillar Post, because today is not Tuesday.

And also, today is not the feast of Pope St. Liberius. There’s a good reason why that is. But I’ll tell you about it in a minute.

But first, I’m writing to praise our summer intern, Jack Figge, who has done a marvelous job reporting great stories over the past few months.

As our intern, Jack interviewed Fr. Mike Schmitz, profiled America’s seafarer chaplains, wrote compellingly on men and women religious, covered Catholic school security after a devastating shooting, told you the story of a holy life, well lived — and did a lot more great reporting.

Readers told us all summer that Jack’s coverage was exactly what they look for at The Pillar — and we agree. Jack is a great young reporter, and exactly the kind of young man we’re glad to work with.

Here’s what most impresses us: In today’s social media landscape, the emphasis in media is to build a brand, curate a personality, become an avatar, and then make money and prestige with a kind of cultivated version of yourself.

That’s lucrative, but it’s not good for the soul.

And real reporting is the exact opposite. Real reporters pick up the phone, chase down leads, tell other people’s stories, and report other people’s points of view. They provide facts, not hot takes.

But it’s unglamorous work — actual work — in which the reporter fades into the background. Real reporters know it’s not about them.

They know that reporting is a service of love to the reader — and to the truth — not to the ego. It’s not trendy, and it’s not flashy.

And at The Pillar, we don’t meet a lot of people who want to do that kind of work.

But real reporting is — we believe — a kind of professional vocation, and for Catholics, a way to serve the Kingdom.

We’re invested in that kind of work. Not many places are. Magazines and fellowships reward ego, and follower counts, and tv hits — not the willingness to work the phones all day for a quote, or for the straight story.

But when we meet a kid like Jack Figge, we want to invest in his future. And in the future of other great reporters who want to serve the Church.

That’s why we’re sending Jack to frigid Alaska this year, in frigid December, to let him chase him down some stories of the Church in the U.S. — the kind he’s got a heart to cover.

But here’s the deal. Our kind of reporting costs money. And teaching our craft to young reporters takes time, commitment, and opportunity.

We work in an industry of low standards, clickbait, and drivel. We’ve learned you don’t want that nonsense from anybody, least of all, from us.

We don’t make the cheap and easy cash that comes from tawdry take-having and viral tv spots. We don’t carry ads on our news stories, so we can’t write clickbait headlines to juice our “clicks” — they don’t make us a single penny. And we don’t take big sums of money from deep-pocketed donors with agendas, because that doesn’t serve the truth either.

That leaves just you. We’re subscriber-funded, on purpose, because we exist to serve people like you, who value good reporting and a commitment to truth, in a world too light on substance, hard work, and egoless professionalism.

The only way it happens is if you pay for the journalism you read. And today’s the day. Stop putting it off — subscribe.

You’re already reading the work, now be part of the mission.

When you subscribe, you get access to our daily news roundup, Starting Seven, and to our full newsletters, plus bonus episodes of our podcast. But you also get to invest in the fight against bad journalism with low standards. You ensure there will be something better.

Of course, we don’t know Jack’s future. Only the Lord does. But we know he’s got the chops to make it in this business, and we’d like to help develop young talents like his, and to find reporters with the same great nose for the truth.

It’s up to you. Subscribe. Today.

Thanks.

—
And now let me tell you about a not-saint-pope.

Liberius — who died on September 24, 366 — was the very first pope in the Church’s history not to be listed in the Roman martyrology.

He’s one of two popes in the first 500 years of Church history not to be counted among the Church’s saints.

He’s not remembered as a saint because of the controversy of his papacy.

While pope, Liberius reportedly signed a document that seemed to downplay the doctrine of the Council of Nicea, in favor of the Arian heresy.

In fairness, Liberius was under duress when he apparently signed the text — he had been kidnapped and exiled by the Arian emperor Constantius II, who wanted him to accept Arianism, and to excommunicate Athanasius.

Now, some people think the signed letters were fakes, and that Liberius actually resisted. We’re not sure today, and no one was completely sure then.

Liberius eventually got back to Rome, and made some moves intended to affirm his orthodoxy. But the stink around his papacy was enough to see him live mostly aloof from other Church leaders for the rest of his life, and not well remembered after his death.

Which means that we should pray for his soul.

And while you’re doing that, subscribe to The Pillar.

Thank you.

In Christ,

JD Flynn
editor-in-chief
The Pillar