History
Founded in 1933 as a nonprofit organization with an education charter, The Cathedral Foundation assumed publication of The Catholic Review, the official newspaper for the archbishop of Baltimore. In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, The Cathedral Foundation was the benevolent grandfather to the Catholic community providing monies for classroom furnishings, faculty salaries and construction to education facilities and providing funds to the new Archdiocese of Washington.
In the 1960s, The Cathedral Foundation gave half a million dollars to establish Cardinal Gibbons School and donated property to Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, archbishop of Baltimore.
The '70s and '80s were challenging times for The Cathedral Foundation as generosity over the years caused its assets to dwindle and The Catholic Review, its cornerstone, encountered a decline in readership in response to the turmoil of the socially anti-religious times.
By 1988, however, under the leadership of The Cathedral Foundation's newly hired, associated publisher, Daniel Medinger, The Catholic Review's readership was on the rise. Outstanding debts were paid back and The Catholic Review's significant increase in circulation built the newspaper into Maryland's largest selling weekly.
The Cathedral Foundation strongly maintains its position as a leading Catholic communications organization, building on its history as an educational leader and using communications as its medium. Several new enterprises in the 1990s brought The Cathedral Foundation to the forefront of Catholic communications companies in the United States.
With new growth, new acquisitions propelled The Cathedral Foundation into a "full service" Catholic communications company. Publishing efforts included newspapers, books and magazines. Advertising services included starting an advertising agency, which represents Catholic newspapers and magazines in the United States and Canada. International relationships in Vatican City and France expanded horizons as the Foundation harnessed the Internet and digital communications. A division was started to assist other diocesan newspapers. Software and website was developed by multiple uses. And there's more in the pipeline of services and products.
Communications to spread the Word is The Cathedral Foundation's primary mission today.
