Abstract:

The weekly newspaper 'La Vie Catholique', published in Paris, was founded in 1945 and destined to become a mass-circulation vehicle of expression for a closely circumscribed segment of Catholic opinion. Its circulation figure rose to attain a peak in 1957 and then declined until 1962, since when it has remained roughly at the same level. At that time, the overall stagnation of its circulation was, In fact, a compound of two opposite trends: a very significant fall In sales of single copies was being contained with difficulty by a determined and expensive drive to gain new subscribers, the latter being a reaction to the former. It is relevant to point out that "La Vie Catholique" is distributed partly through subscriptions and partly through religious organizations.