author
John Francis
b. 1875
A small-town Indiana priest who turned a parish bulletin into the hugely influential Our Sunday Visitor newspaper, he became one of the best-known Catholic voices in the United States. His writing and publishing work reached far beyond his own diocese and helped shape Catholic media in the first half of the 20th century.
1 Audiobook
The Triumph of Virginia Dale
by John Francis
About the author
Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on January 25, 1875, John Francis Noll was ordained a Catholic priest in 1898 and later became bishop of Fort Wayne, serving from 1925 until his death in 1956. He is especially remembered for founding Our Sunday Visitor in 1912, originally as a local paper and soon a widely read national Catholic publication.
Noll built a reputation as a clear, practical communicator who wanted ordinary readers to understand and defend their faith. Under his leadership, Our Sunday Visitor expanded its reach through newspapers, pamphlets, and books, making him an important figure in American Catholic publishing.
He died on July 31, 1956. Even now, he is closely associated with the lasting success of Our Sunday Visitor and with the growth of Catholic publishing in the United States.