THE NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA
The Catholic Encyclopedia, to which the present work acknowledges its lineage, issued its first volume in 1907, under the direction of a distinguished editorial board, representing the best in American scholarship and international collaboration. “As its name implies,” the Preface stated, the Encyclopedia, “proposes to give its readers full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action, and doctrine.” The fifteenth, and last, volume of text was published in 1912, with an index volume following 2 years later.
From the outset, the work was hailed internationally as a major achievement of scholarship. It was immediately recognized and employed as an accurate and authoritative source of information on all matters pertaining to the history, teachings, and activities of the Catholic Church from its foundation to the early years of the 20th century. Yet it was inevitable that the great work should become inadequate. In view of the profound changes that have taken place in the world in general and in the life and work of the Church in particular, even the revisions undertaken in the form of Supplements could not keep the old work up to date. An entirely new work was badly needed. The purpose of the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA is to meet this need.
It would not be possible here to describe in detail the most interesting history of the project, although that history is important and should be published. However, a few salient matters may be mentioned. In 1958, Cardinal Samuel Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago, presented the project of a new encyclopedia for consideration by the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. His proposal was received with enthusiasm. The Trustees subsequently approved plans for editing the new encyclopedia under the auspices of The Catholic University of America. Through the special offices of Cardinal Francis Spellman, Archbishop of New York, the University was able to acquire ownership of the existing sets and Supplements of the Catholic Encyclopedia owned by the Gilmary Society and full rights to use the original name. In the meantime, the McGraw-Hill Book Company, in a contact made with Eugene P. Willging, Director of The Catholic University of America Libraries, had expressed a willingness to publish a new Catholic encyclopedia. After negotiation, a contract was drawn up whereby the University assumed responsibility for the preparation of the NEW Catholic ENCYCLOPEDIA, and the McGraw-Hill Book Company, the responsibility for the publication and distribution of the work, including the editorial and production costs. It was specified that the University would have full control of content.
The Trustees of the University approved the appointment of the Right Reverend Monsignor, later Most Reverend, William J. McDonald, Rector of the University, as editor in chief, and the establishment of an Editorial Committee. Subsequently they approved the appointment of an Executive Editorial Committee and a number of consultants. Much work remained to be done after these appointments were made. It became clear by early 1962 that a greatly expanded staff of editors, working on a full-time schedule, was necessary; and a thorough reorganization of the editorial work and personnel was completed by the end of September. The editing of the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA was finished 4 years later, at the beginning of September 1966.
While the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA has been prepared under the auspices of The Catholic University of America, and with the authorization of its Trustees, it should not be thought of as an exclusive Catholic University project in any sense. The majority of the staff editors were not members of the University faculty, but were released temporarily, and at great sacrifice, by their religious communities or dioceses, to engage in a work that was regarded by their superiors and ordinaries as of prime importance for the Church throughout the country.
It gives me special pleasure to state that the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, thanks to careful~ planning and the competence of its dedicated editorial staff, not only maintains the high standard of the Catholic Encyclopedia but also exhibits many significant features of its own. It is considerably broader in scope than its title would suggest. Accordingly, it contains a large number of articles on literature, the arts, and the sciences, as well as on ecclesiastical disciplines and subjects. The treatment in these articles reflects a Catholic sense of values but is not partisan in tone. In keeping with the spirit of aggiornamento inaugurated by Pope John XXIII and continued so conspicuously by his successor, Pope Paul VI, the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA is ecumenical in its coverage, outlook, and approach. The Orthodox Churches, the various branches of Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, and all other religions have been treated at length and throughout with accuracy and understanding.
While emphasizing the Church, its life, and its history in the United States and in the English-speaking world in general, the NEW CATHOLIC Encyclopedia is also international in scope. The Church in Latin America, for example, receives a much fuller treatment than it has received in any other religious encyclopedia. Some 4,800 individual contributors from all parts of the world have written articles with an authority that can come only from firsthand knowledge of subjects and regions. In regard to contributors, furthermore, it is a pleasure to note that numerous Jewish and other non-Catholic scholars have contributed articles in fields in which they are specialists. The value of the NEW CA THOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA as an authoritative work of reference is further enhanced by some 7,500 illustrations, numerous maps, and an extensive and clearly arranged index.
The NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, in short, is a comprehensive, scholarly, authoritative, and readable work of reference dealing with every aspect of the Church, its teachings, its institutions, and its activities throughout the world. Above all, the Church is not treated in isolation, but always in relation to its whole environment.
As Archbishop of the jurisdiction and Chancellor of the University in which this great work has come to fruition, I wish to join with the editors in grateful appreciation to all who have shared in its preparation—the contributors, the consultants, the Press for many courtesies, the publishers, and the Most Reverend Hierarchy of the United States for their constant encouragement and support. It is our earnest hope that the encyclopedia’s acceptance as a standard source of reference will justify the dedicated effort that has brought it into being.
Archbishop of Washington
Chancellor, The Catholic University of America