NOR editor, Pieter Vree, writes, “The NOR was contacted by a neocon foundation — right out of the blue”

…”As my father wrote, “We at the NOR are glad to be independent of the ideological bigwigs. We don’t have to run around on the New York and D.C. cocktail-party circuit. We don’t have to kiss up to [any] money-barons. We don’t have to serve their vested interests.”

“… We’re not pooh-poohing the needful work the USCCB has done to give material assistance and (we hope) spiritual succor to refugees. We Catholics have a responsibility to them that comes directly from Our Lord (if you doubt that, reread Mt. 25:31-46). But, from our perspective, dependence on government largesse is, at best, problematic. Caesar always exacts his price, and in the case of the American Caesar (affectionately known as Uncle Sam), the price is typically your religious identity.

We can’t presume to speak for the USCCB, but we can state definitively that our religious identity is fundamental to what the NOR is and does. Without it, we’d have nothing to offer, no reason even to exist. For that reason, we are disinclined to apply for or accept governmental or other institutional support. There are invariably strings attached. We don’t want our mission to become compromised, as the USCCB’s appears to be.

Not that we haven’t been tempted. Though we often repeat to our readers that we don’t receive institutional support, we don’t often remind them why. Dale Vree, former NOR editor and my late father (of happy memory), did once explain why. In an editorial titled “Your Voice of Orthodox Catholicism, Without Any Strings Attached” (Sept. 2005), he recounted how, sometime in the late 1980s, a neoconservative foundation offered to underwrite the NOR’s work. As he told it:

“The NOR was contacted by a neocon foundation — right out of the blue. The foundation wanted to give us money — “free” money. A fellow flew out from the East Coast and asked me to meet him for drinks in a San Francisco restaurant — on him. Sure! (We were desperate for money.)

He told me he would fund us regularly — if we would support corporate capitalism and if we would support a militaristic U.S. foreign policy. I had to think quickly on my feet. I immediately realized that our first loyalty is to Christ and His Church, not to any ideology, political party, or even any nation (for the Church is universal). It was patently obvious that our religious mission would be compromised, that the whole idea was to make us a front group for the neocon agenda. I gave him a firm “no,” and that was the end of that.

Have I regretted that “no”? In my weaker moments, yes; but mostly I have not. For Catholic social teaching does not support unregulated capitalism, and we know that the Holy See’s stand on foreign affairs can at times be sharply at odds with U.S. foreign policy.”

As Dale’s direct heir, I know all about those “weaker moments.” They’re harder — and more frequent — than I think my father was willing to admit. Absent the predictable influx of funds and ancillary benefits such an arrangement would provide, the NOR has lost out on exposure, recognition, awards, banquet and conference invites, radio and television promotions, speaking engagements, book deals, incoming and outgoing advertising opportunities, access to the rich and powerful, and a higher circulation. But the NOR has a legacy of independence that I’m bound to honor no matter the cost — a cost that has been steep.

As my father wrote, “We at the NOR are glad to be independent of the ideological bigwigs. We don’t have to run around on the New York and D.C. cocktail-party circuit. We don’t have to kiss up to [any] money-barons. We don’t have to serve their vested interests. But that’s only possible because we receive our funding from our subscribers.”

Instead, we’re left to toil alone and, it seems at times, in obscurity.

Listen, I’d love to go to a New York or D.C. cocktail party! Or even one in nearby San Francisco. But nobody’s invited me. All my invitations must’ve gotten lost in the mail. But that’s probably for the best, because though they sound like fun (at least the first time around), they could easily be occasions of temptation. Could I say “no” as quickly and resolutely as my father did? In my weaker moments, I’m not so sure.

As long as the NOR is able to receive funding from you, our subscribers, I won’t have to worry about how I’d respond to an offer to sacrifice our independence for our bottom line — or for our very survival. Under my watch, as under my father’s, the NOR will “live free or die,” to quote the New Hampshire state motto (no, we’re not going to relocate there, either).

And yet, like State Farm and the USCCB, the NOR is facing its own possible “dire situation.” As stated above, we need all hands on deck. St. Augustine said, “God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.” Can we count on your help yet again? Will you lend us your hand as we navigate a tumultuous sea? Please consider helping us reach our fundraising goal by sending your contribution to:

New Oxford Review
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Make checks and money orders payable to New Oxford Review. Credit card donations can be made via a secure server at newoxfordreview.org/donations or by telephone at 510-526-5374.

From What Price Freedom?, April 2025 issue. [Emphasis supplied].

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