Augustinians of the Assumption purchase Catholic Digest
Now the Largest Catholic Publisher in the United States

Worcester, MA— For over a century and a half the Augustinians of the Assumption, founders of Assumption College (Worcester, MA), have had a publishing presence in France through their wholly-owned publishing company, Bayard. Recently, Bayard has increased its presence in the North American Catholic media market with three acquisitions, most notably the purchase of Catholic Digest, the largest paid–circulation Catholic magazine in the United States. The acquisition of Catholic Digest brings Bayard into almost half a million homes in North America each month.

The Augustinians of the Assumption, who were founded by the Venerable Emmanuel d’Alzon in 1850, have had significant success in spreading the word of God through education and the written word. Assumption College is the manifestation of that effort in higher education and Bayard Press has made tremendous inroads in the publishing industry.

Bayard Press is a Catholic publisher that was founded in 1873. It is currently located in nine countries including Hong Kong, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and France, where it publishes the country’s only daily Catholic newspaper. It is a multi-million dollar company that publishes children’s books and magazines, interfaith and catholic religious materials, and periodicals geared specifically to the senior population.

In 1999, Bayard USA acquired Twenty-Third Publications in Connecticut, which publishes Today’s Parish, This Sunday’s Scripture, Exploring the Sunday Readings, and a wide variety of pastoral books. In the fall of 2000, Bayard took over the operations at Novalis, the leading Canadian Catholic publisher.

Now that Bayard, the publication arm of the Assumptionists, has made it’s home in North America, it is logical to assume that a relationship between the education ministry and publication ministry will form. Assumption College has entered into collaborative talks with Bayard and will likely strengthen the ties between the two by making available translation skills, scholarly works, and the expertise in subject matters of the faculty and staff at Assumption College. For example, a publication offering an introduction to Judaism for Christians authored by Fr. David Gallo is scheduled to be published by Bayard. In addition, the Office of Career Services at Assumption College is looking into the placement of students at the Mystic, CT offices of Bayard in either internship or employee positions, especially for Communications majors.
The Superior General of the Augustinians of the Assumption , Fr. Richard Lameroux, has planed an international meeting to bring the heads of Bayard and the Assumptionists together to talk abut issues of mission, as both continue the ministry started by Emmanuel d’Alzon many centuries ago.

Fr. John Franck, the North American Provincial for the Assumptionists who is chairman of the Board of Trustees at Assumption College and sits on the board of directors for Bayard is available for comment and to provide additional information. Please contact me for more information.