Catholic World News News Feature

New editor at Catholic World Report August 31, 2005

Domenico Bettinelli, the managing editor of Catholic World News, has been named editor of Catholic World Report, the monthly news magazine that is the flagship of Ignatius Press.

After 12 years with CWR, Phil Lawler will become editor emeritus, and will continue to be an active presence and occasionally write for the magazine. He will continue to edit Catholic World News, his online news service.

Bettinelli, 36, has worked with Lawler since 1995, first as assistant editor and then as managing editor of both Catholic World Report and Catholic World News.

Bettinelli, a Boston native who holds a theology degree from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, will now become the full-time editor of the magazine. He plans to continue delivering the same hard-hitting news and investigation that is CWR’s trademark.

“While the person of the editor is changing, the mission of CWR is not,” Bettinelli said. “We will continue to look at news of the Church and the world with the same unwavering commitment to the truth and the Gospel."

“With the election of a new Pope, the Church’s continuing efforts to recover from the clergy sex-abuse scandal, the challenges of new sects in Latin America, the increasing ascendance of secularism in Europe, the rise of radical Islam worldwide, as well as the oppression of religion in many countries around the globe, there is plenty of journalistic work to be done. CWR will remain the source for the fearless reporting and analysis that has become our signature.”

Although Lawler will still be involved with the magazine, he plans to focus on writing a book about a subject that has preoccupied him throughout his adult life: the collapse of Catholic culture in his native Boston. Lawler discloses that he has been trying to find more time for his own writing projects. “The presence of Domenico Bettinelli, a talented and capable colleague who is clearly ready to take the helm, has made it very easy to take the last step, confident that CWR will be in good hands," he said.

Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, the publisher of Catholic World Report, thanked Lawler for his service as editor and his ongoing presence with the magazine as editor emeritus:

It has been a great blessing to work with Phil Lawler these past twelve years. I think Catholic World Report is still the best source of news about the world from the Catholic perspective and for news about the Catholic Church that is balanced and objective. All this has been Phil Lawler’s doing and I think that English-speaking Catholics have been much enriched by him. I am certainly profoundly grateful and confident that Phil will continue to do great work for the Church. Phil has also been an outstanding mentor to Domenico Bettinelli, who I believe will continue the wonderful work that Phil has done.