Welcome to The Pillar.
We’re a Catholic media project focused on smart, faithful, and serious journalism, from committed and informed Catholics who love the Church.
Our focus is on investigative journalism, which is how we’ll spend most of our time. We think investigating stories that matter can help the Church to better serve its sacred mission, the salvation of souls.
As we work on investigative projects, we’ll also produce analyses, explainers, and podcasts, and we’ll send them to you.
We believe that serious Catholic journalism is a service to Christ and the Church - and that journalism can be done in a uniquely Catholic way, which takes the doctrine of the Catholic Church to be true, which treats people with respect, and which looks for the truth above all else, without getting bogged down in partisan agendas or mudslinging.
We think the story matters more than we do, and we’d rather tell you the facts than tell you what we think. We aim to focus on the facts, and to provide the context and background that helps make sense of them.
The Pillar upholds the highest standards of journalistic independence and craftsmanship. We're independent of any ecclesial agenda but the holiness of the Church and its members - we won't be afraid to tell the stories that need to be told, but we'll tell them with integrity and fairness.
We'll be reverent, but not sanctimonious. Prudent, but not prudish. We don't think Catholic journalism has to be cloying or puritanical, because we don't think the Christian life should be lived that way. We believe in truth, and we believe that the Church is founded by Christ and lived as a society. We live in that society, and believe its life is worth reporting well.
Our aim is serving the Church, and pointing to Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.
What you’ll get
We’ll send you twice-weekly newsletters, with links to analyses and explainers, along with our weekly podcast. We’ll also be working on original investigative, longform, and feature reporting projects, and we’ll keep you posted as we publish those.
In short, we won’t waste your time. But we will keep you informed on the life of the Church, and we’ll aim to be interesting as we do it.
Why The Pillar?
God led the Israelites through the desert as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. Samson took down pillars at a Philistine temple, and Christ was scourged at a pillar. Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt, and in the early Church, monks climbed to the top of great pillars to pray for the world below them.
God’s justice, God’s mercy, and God’s goodness are all revealed through the imagery of pillars in Scripture. We hope The Pillar reveals those things too.
Who we are:
JD Flynn, editor-in-chief, cofounder — jdflynn@pillarcatholic.com
Before co-founding The Pillar, JD Flynn was editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. Before that, he was chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver, and a senior advisor to Bishop James Conley in the Diocese of Lincoln. He has an MA in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and a JCL in canon law from the Catholic University of America.
JD is a member of the College of Fellows at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, has served a consultor to the USCCB, and is published in the Washington Post, the New York Post, First Things, The Lamp, National Review, and in various Catholic publications.
Ed Condon, editor, cofounder — econdon@pillarcatholic.com
Before co-founding The Pillar, Ed Condon worked as the DC editor of the Catholic News Agency and was an associate editor of the Catholic Herald. His journalistic work has appeared in publications including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, National Review, the Washington Examiner, the Spectator, the Bulwark, First Things, as well as several academic and legal journals.
Ed is also a practicing canon lawyer, having worked in dioceses across three continents and the Holy See. Previously he spent nearly ten years working in professional politics in the United Kingdom.
Michelle La Rosa, managing editor — mlarosa@pillarcatholic.com
Michelle La Rosa has provided articles and commentary for the National Catholic Register, Huffington Post, Denver Catholic Register, NY1 News, Register Radio, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Before joining The Pillar, Michelle worked at Catholic News Agency, where she helped establish the Washington DC bureau and worked as an editor for eight years. Michelle studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.
She is not a canon lawyer.
Luke Coppen, senior correspondent — lukecoppen@pillarcatholic.com
Luke Coppen studied the religion and politics of Africa and Asia at SOAS University of London. After gaining a postgraduate diploma in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, he joined the UK’s Catholic Herald, serving as editor from 2004 to 2020. He was Europe editor of the Catholic News Agency from 2020 to 2022.
His writing has appeared in several major UK publications, including the Spectator and the Daily Telegraph.
Brendan Hodge, contributing editor
Brendan Hodge is a professional pricer and has spent the last 20 years holding pricing and data analytics roles in a variety of companies including Dell, Wendy's, and Scotts Miracle-Gro. His novel If You Can Get It was published in 2020 by Ignatius Press. He has lectured at the Professional Pricing Society, covered economics for the SonRise Morning Show, and blogs at DarwinCatholic.
Notes and policies:
Our byline policy—
Most reported news stories at The Pillar are written jointly by our team. All stories we write jointly take the byline The Pillar. Why? Because we think the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the names on the back.
Analyses, special reports, reported stories from corespondents, and contributions from freelance journalists, take the byline of the author.
Syndication—
We syndicate our work to diocesan newspapers and other publications at reasonable rates. Contact us at jdflynn@pillarcatholic.com for details.
Help —
If you’re trying to edit your subscription, cancel your subscription, or figure out anything else about your subscription status, email Kate Flynn, right here, anytime.
