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Revisiting Commonweal Msgr. George G. Higgins May 24, 1999  In a recent column I said that the lay Catholic weekly Commonweal is about to celebrate its 70th birthday. Correction: Make that 75th. Commonweal's forthcoming anniversary brings to mind an important essay, "The Problem of the Catholic Press,'' written in the 1930s by the French philosopher Jacques Maritain as an appendix to his book "True Humanism.''  The "problem'' of the Catholic press that Maritain analyzed had nothing to do with a rise in printing costs or a decline in circulation figures or any of the other bread-and-butter problems which are the bane of every publisher's existence.  Writing as a philosopher, Maritain drew a distinction between two essentially different types of periodicals: one specifically Catholic and religious by definition, the other specifically political or cultural, but Catholic in inspiration only, not by denomination.  In the United States we have too few Catholic publications of the second type, but, thanks be to God, we still have Commonweal. Commonweal is and always has been an independent lay journal, Catholic by inspiration, not by denomination.  When the magazine was established, that was considered a radical innovation. At that time the preferred term for the lay apostolate was "Catholic Action.'' Under this heading, lay people were defined as dependent participants in the apostolate of the hierarchy. But several of the Vatican Council II documents replaced this truncated theological principle with a new and more creative understanding of the role of the laity.  Commonweal anticipated Vatican II on this issue by several decades. Its founders never thought of themselves as dependent participants in the apostolate of the hierarchy, nor have their successors, but loyalty to the church was never a question.  That's as true today as it was when the magazine was founded 75 years ago. In Maritain's words, it was and is a Catholic periodical, but Catholic in inspiration only, not by denomination. It has never claimed to engage or speak for the church, but always has consistently and ecumenically drawn its inspiration from Christian wisdom and has done so with extraordinary civility.  I am reminded in this connection that Michael Novak, in one of his recent books, "The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,'' lists several virtues which, in his view, are essential to the maintenance of a free society.  Among these virtues are "the habit of showing respect to persons, even when disagreeing with their opinions,'' and "the art of speaking kindly even of those one opposes.''  I can think of no other magazine -- conservative, neoconservative, liberal or radical -- that has practiced these two virtues as consistently (I almost said religiously) as Commonweal.     Papal Social Encyclicals   Other Catholic Social Teachings General Articles of Interest  Catholic Worker Connection Msgr. George Higgins  Home Page E-Mail: Fr. Sinclair Oubre