In January 2015, Maryvale Institute will temporarily suspend publication of its catechetical journal The Sower, but Franciscan University of Steubenville intends to launch a similar but new magazine The Catechetical Review. Current subscribers of The Sower will receive this new magazine in its place and continue to receive online access to back issue articles of The Sower. TheSowerReview.org website will change its domain name to Review.Catechetics.com by the January launch, and other minor design modifications will be made to the website as well to reflect the new magazine.

History of The Sower

The Sower was founded by Canon Francis Drinkwater, a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, in 1919. In 1992, Maryvale Institute took over management of The Sower and in 2003 developed a friendship with Franciscan University that eventually led to a co-publishing agreement. Since 2006 Franciscan University has shared production costs with Maryvale, as well as promoted and managed subscriptions for the magazine in North America. In the fall of 2013, Franciscan University not only developed and launched a new website for The Sower but also stepped in to manage The Sower’s editorial, design and production on Maryvale’s behalf.

However, as Director of Maryvale Institute Fr. Edward Clare recently explained in a letter to UK subscribers, “By using in house production facilities we have kept costs to a minimum, but regrettably, because of falling subscriptions, the journal has for some years been uneconomical to maintain and so we have reluctantly taken the decision to cease publication.” Regarding its future he says, “We greatly hope that with new collaborators in or beyond the diocese, we will be able to resume publication at some time in the future.” The Archdiocese of Birmingham will consider how best to draw on both the journal’s heritage and the expertise of Maryvale to continue to serve Catholic educators and catechists. Fr. Clare also expressed his “thanks for the collaboration with Franciscan University that has enabled The Sower to continue in its present form over recent years.”

Launching The Catechetical Review

Reciprocally, Franciscan University is grateful to Maryvale Institute for the privilege to have contributed to the catechetical vision and mission of The Sower. The years of experience collaborating on the journal, and fully managing it in this last year, has provided Franciscan University the expertise to launch its own catechetical magazine and continue to serve its subscribers, as well as Maryvale’s remaining subscribers. While necessary changes are required for the title and design of the magazine, the overarching vision and formative content will remain largely the same. The new magazine will be titled The Catechetical Review: Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization.

Diocesan, parish and Catholic school catechetical leaders; RCIA and adult faith formation coordinators; youth ministers and all those involved with initial proclamation of the Gospel and catechesis, will continue to benefit from the contributions of multiple catechetics faculties from different universities, as well as from “field experienced” diocesan, parish and school leaders. Many of the “Regulars” will be converted to newly titled “Departments” of The Catechetical Review.

Additionally, Maryvale Institute has granted permission to Franciscan University to keep the online archive articles of The Sower on the revised website, so subscribers may continue to receive the full value of their subscriptions. However, permission to reprint any of those Sower archive articles in another publication must be requested from Maryvale Institute at [email protected]. Articles may only be downloaded and copied for catechetical formation purposes. That policy will also remain in effect for new articles published in The Catechetical Review, but reprint permissions for the new magazine articles will need to be requested from the Managing Editor at [email protected].

Website Changes

Beside the magazine title change and domain change to Review.Catechetics.com, the most significant change about the current website (TheSowerReview.org) will be  subscribers outside the United States will need to subscribe or renew their subscriptions in US Dollars. Most major credit card companies make the currency conversion automatically; however, if this is not the case with a subscriber’s particular bankcard, there is also the option to pay by check or money order made out in US funds. What has traditionally been the “Canadian rate” will be applicable to all international subscribers for the time being.

All other functionality of the website will remain the same. If current or past subscribers do not have or have forgotten their username or password, just click on “Retrieve your password” located at the login box of the home page, fill out the required information, and a username and password will be emailed. Once logged in, account information can be edited and subscriptions renewed. Any questions regarding these changes may be directed to the Managing Editor: email [email protected] or call 740-283-6235.

Maryvale Institute and Franciscan University ask your prayers for our continued efforts in supporting the mission of evangelization and catechesis. Our prayers are with you too.

This announcement is found on page 5 of the printed edition.