About The Southern Cross

The Southern Cross

The Southern Cross is the official publication of the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide — South Australia's Catholic newspaper, published in Adelaide since 1889, and one of the longest continuously published Catholic newspapers in Australia. It began in July 1889 as a weekly magazine for the Catholic Archdiocese, its banner subtitled "A weekly record of Catholic, Irish and General Intelligence," later "Organ of the Catholic Church in South Australia." It remained a weekly for most of its history; today it is a monthly newspaper and gloss magazine — about 5,000 copies printed monthly and distributed to parishes, schools and agencies — with an online edition, and twice a year (at Christmas and Easter) a magazine insert in The Advertiser reaching a wide readership of approximately 294,000. It is published by Solstice Media.

Overview

The Southern Cross is South Australia's Catholic newspaper, serving communities across the state and publishing the official news of the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide. Each issue carries stories on Catholic news and issues, special features and events of interest to the community — in Adelaide and the surrounding regional areas. The printed magazine goes to parishes, subscribers, Catholic hospitals, clubs and agencies; the digital version is a free online publication shared with school students through electronic distribution to family email addresses. The website carries daily Catholic news: archdiocesan appointments, school stories, safeguarding, migrant communities, social justice, and the life of the parishes.

History

The Catholic press before 1889

Adelaide had Irish Catholic newspapers long before 1889. An earlier Irish Catholic newspaper, The Harp or Harp and Southern Cross, was published in Adelaide, weekly from 1868 to at least December 1875. Its publisher was John Augustine Hewitt at 39 King William Street, and its printer was Webb, Vardon and Pritchard of Hindley Street. It was preceded by The Irish Harp and Farmers' Herald, published from 1869 to 1873, which was strongly critical of the local bishop's excommunication of Mary MacKillop — the future saint. The Harp and Southern Cross succeeded it briefly (1873–1875), and then came The Southern Cross, which is still published.

Founded July 1889

The Southern Cross was founded in 1889 by the Southern Cross Printing and Publishing Company with the aim of publishing news about and for the Catholic community. It succeeded the Catholic Monthly, a magazine published by Archbishop C. A. Reynolds (1834–1893), from which he was anxious to be relieved. The original board of management consisted of Archdeacon Russell (chairman), the Rev. G. Williams, Hon. James Vincent O'Loghlin, M.L.C., Dr. O'Connell J.P. and Mr. W. A. Dempsey J.P. O'Loghlin was appointed managing editor, with an office at 28 Waymouth Street, Adelaide. The first issue was published on 5 July 1889, its masthead proclaiming "A Weekly Record of Catholic, Irish and General Intelligence."

The paper was a commercial success from the start. At the following AGM, at which a profit of over 50 per cent was declared and a 10 per cent dividend was distributed to shareholders, Russell, Williams and O'Connell retired and were replaced by Rev. T. F. O'Neill, Rev. P. Jorgensen and Peter Paul Gillen, M.P. At the 1891 AGM a profit was announced, but the meeting resolved that, rather than give a dividend to shareholders, the cover price of the paper should be reduced. At the 1892 AGM another satisfactory report was read: the cover price had been dropped, circulation and advertising were up, and a dividend was distributed to shareholders. Similar results were announced in the ensuing five years, despite a country-wide depression which was affecting South Australia in particular.

A century of weeks

The paper remained a weekly for most of its history. The National Library's Trove service carries its issues from 5 July 1889 to 24 December 1954, and the State Library of South Australia holds its later decades; the paper's ISSN is 2203-7616, and it published a pictorial edition, the Southern Cross Pictorial, from 1965 to 1973. Its subtitle varied over the years — "A weekly record of Catholic, Irish and general news," "South Australia's Catholic weekly" — but its mission did not: the record of Catholic life in South Australia.

Solstice Media and the present

Today The Southern Cross is a Solstice Media brand — "SA's Catholic newspaper" — published as a monthly newspaper and gloss magazine with a daily-updated website. Its editor is Richard Evans. Advertising in the paper is pitched as a considered avenue for strategically reaching Catholics across South Australia. The Christmas and Easter magazine inserts in The Advertiser, with a readership of approximately 294,000, carry the paper's stories to the broadest audience in its history — a Catholic paper that began in 1889 reaching a 21st-century mass audience twice a year.

Content

The Southern Cross covers the Catholic community's agenda: the official news of the Archdiocese of Adelaide — appointments, archdiocesan events, the Archbishop's messages; the Catholic schools — their achievements, their students, their building programs, from St Paul's College at Gilles Plains to Mary MacKillop College; Catholic agencies — Centacare, Catholic Mission, Caritas; safeguarding and social cohesion; migrant and multicultural communities — the Vietnamese liaison officers, the Migrant Cross pilgrimage; social justice — from local poverty to international appeals like the Nepal flood relief; and the life of the parishes — milestone anniversaries, school fetes, pilgrimages, feast days. Special features cover issues of interest to the community: education, health, aged care, and the Church's engagement with public life. The website's daily news includes national Catholic stories — the bishops' conferences, the Australian Catholic Press Association, the conclave — alongside the Adelaide and regional stories.

Coverage and Audience

The paper serves South Australia's Catholic community: the parishes of Adelaide and the regional dioceses, the Catholic schools and their families, the hospitals, clubs and agencies — the whole archdiocesan community, from the city to the regions, in print, in the inbox and online. The printed magazine's monthly distribution of about 5,000 copies goes to parishes, subscribers, Catholic hospitals, clubs and agencies; the digital version reaches school students through family email addresses. The Christmas and Easter inserts in The Advertiser reach approximately 294,000 readers. The website draws some 11,000 views per month, and the email newsletter has a 43 per cent open rate.

Ownership

The Southern Cross is the official publication of the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and is published by Solstice Media. Its ownership lineage runs from the Southern Cross Printing and Publishing Company (1889) — the lay board of Archdeacon Russell, O'Loghlin, Williams, O'Connell and Dempsey — to the Archdiocese's present publishing arrangements with Solstice Media.

Digital Presence

The paper's website, thesoutherncross.org.au, is a daily-updated Catholic news site — verified live and current, with October 2026 content including the month's magazine issue, daily news stories, and a twice-monthly email newsletter readers can sign up for on the site. It carries the latest issue as a digital magazine and the paper's social media channels. The Trove archive of 1889–1954 and the State Library's holdings make more than a century of the paper's history available to researchers — every issue, every editorial, every parish notice, from 5 July 1889 to the present. From the Harp of 1868 to the present Southern Cross, Adelaide's Catholic press has been continuous for more than 150 years — the longest-running Catholic newspaper tradition in South Australia, and one of the longest in the country.