Sam Sawyer, S.J., returns from his tertianship in South Africa to his role as editor in chief.

87 is the new 60 at the Vatican.

As local newspapers close and newsrooms shrink around the United States, strong local Catholic journalism is increasingly crucial, and Catholic journalism faces additional challenges.

Spending three months away is not a usual move for someone recently installed as editor in chief of a magazine and media ministry. Please be assured that I will continue to accompany you in prayer in tertianship.

You need not worry that I will be outsourcing “Of Many Things” columns to our robot overlords in the future.

“Our communion is unsure of itself.” We must “recover a sense of what holds us together.” The stakes are very high for our church, and listening to one another is the first step on a much longer journey.