The German Catholic press agency KNA celebrated its 50th anniversary on 19 November. The four hundred guests invited to the celebration listened to the messages of congratulations sent by the ecclesiastical authorities and by the protagonists of social and political life, and of the mass media. Evaluating positively “the huge range of information provided” by the agency, the message sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, on behalf of John Paul II, underlined that the KNA must “develop its role of collating, diffusing and commenting on current information on the activities of the Church and on the sectors that concern the life of Catholics”. According to Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference, the agency “diffuses political and social issues that risk being discarded by the other media. In a media market characterized by strong competition he added it’s important to maintain a clear editorial profile, as well as professional and technical skills”. “Anyone who wants to inform himself about Catholic life cannot fail to consult KNA”, declared Johannes Rau, President of the Federal Republic, in his message. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, for his part, said that “actuality and competence” distinguish the activity of the agency whose users comprise not only “the information services of the German dioceses, but also 60% of the country’s dailies and countless periodicals and reviews, not to mention public and private radio stations”. The activity of KNA, which boasts of a staff of 90 journalists and 350 contributors, is testified by the diffusion of over 26,000 articles per year.
