We are here to serve.
On page 4 of this issue of The Catholic Echo, you’ll see a bunch of official language about the magazine, including “the official magazine of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.” The phrase indicates that we cover the diocese—which we do—but we actually ARE the diocese. The Catholic Echo magazine is produced by the diocesan communications department, of which I am a part. As editor of The Echo, I manage the Echo team and the written Echo products, including this 10x/year print magazine and the digital content on this site.
So at this moment, you’re looking at a communications department product, but you also receive information from us on Sundays, when you go to church and pick up a bulletin. My colleague, Meagen Farrell, who manages internal communications in the diocese, organizes bulletin announcements for the parishes to use. She also manages the diocesan website, www.DOY.org, which she improves and updates almost daily so that diocesan Catholics have easy access to the information they need.
You’re also interacting with the communications department when you comment on a Catholic Diocese of Youngstown Facebook post or you “Like” a diocesan Instagram post. Cindee Case, social media minister for the diocese, manages all diocesan social media platforms by attending events, planning and scheduling posts, moderating and answering loads of follower questions.
You’ve also consumed a communications department product if you’ve watched Our Sunday Mass, listened to Wineskins or tuned in to the new Catholic Echo podcast, both hosted by Father Jim Korda. My colleague, Robert Gavalier spends his workdays in the diocese’s new social media studio, editing podcasts, videos and other multimedia content for television, radio and online.
And if you’ve read about the diocese in your local newspaper or heard about us on TV, you may have witnessed the work of our fearless leader, communications director Justin Huyck. Not only does he manage all of us—and we’re each responsible for a wildly different aspect of communications—he also takes on public relations for the diocese, sending press releases, coordinating with journalists and maintaining relationships with the media.
You can read more about how many people we reach in By the Numbers, page 6. You’ll also find our mission statement here, which, in a nutshell, states that we’re supporting the work of the Church by serving your parish and serving you—the reader, the follower, the listener, the watcher, the Catholic in northeastern Ohio. If you’d like to support this mission, please consider giving to the Diocesan Communications Collection online or in church on Epiphany weekend, January 6 & 7. All proceeds will help fund the projects I’ve mentioned here and those yet to come—all of which are geared toward entertaining, engaging and informing you.
I hope you enjoy this issue of The Catholic Echo, and I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and blessings in the coming year.
Until next time,
Katie Wagner
