Oct. 30, 2007

New Tablet Readers From ACA Donors

A mailed copy of The Tablet is arriving at the homes of 20,000 parishioners for the first time this week, as a new circulation practice inspired by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio goes into effect tying the diocesan newspaper with the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).

As donors to the 2007 ACA, they are receiving a one-year subscription to The Tablet at no cost to them. The initial issue contains the Bishop’s pastoral letter, “Do Not Be Afraid: A Pastoral Vision for the New Evangelization.”

The ACA is bearing the cost of the subscription. The net result is a 25 percent reduction in The Tablet’s monthly invoice to pastors for the parish’s participation in the paper’s Mandated Circulation Plan and a pullback on the number of copies delivered in bulk to the parish.

“From everything I have heard, the pastors are pleased with the new initiative,” said Msgr. John J. Bracken, the Vicar General for Temporalities, who announced the plan at a meeting of pastors Sept. 20. His staff handled the details of comparing subscription and donor lists containing thousands of names.

Msgr. Bracken said Bishop DiMarzio views The Tablet as “an instrument for promoting evangelization in the Diocese” and felt that the paper should be provided to ACA donors “as active participants in diocesan life.” 

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10/30/07