Firing on the Right

Few Roman Catholic traditionalists are more widely respected, even by ideological opponents, than Journalist Dale Francis. A veteran of three decades of Catholic publishing, Francis almost singlehanded has edited the National Catholic Register (circ. 90,000) as an effective voice of Catholic conservatism since Schick Millionaire Patrick J. Frawley Jr. bought the paper in 1970. So dedicated was Francis that he took no vacation during those four years.

Now Francis will have plenty of time: he has been fired as the Register's editor and publisher, he says, by Owner Frawley. Richard Betts, Frawley's assistant, insists Francis was not fired. Betts says that Frawley decided to move the Register from Huntington, Ind., to Los Angeles, the home of Frawley's fluffy, quasi-Catholic weekly Twin Circle, to combine operations and save money. More basically, Frawley probably wanted closer editorial control in order to publicize his own ideas. Francis concedes that he did not want to go to L.A. but says that he was not invited.

Whether the move will save money is doubtful. In any event, the Register was in the black. What does seem clear is that Francis' departure is a loss. The first post-Francis issue, out last week, already missed his informed touch. Though Frawley is now listed as editor and publisher, there may be no full-time editor, says Betts. After all, he adds, "how much Catholic news is there?"

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