Integrity (1946-1956)

Integrity: Volume 1 (1946)

 (Features the wonderful illustrations of Ed Willock)

Integrity: Volume 2 (January–June 1947)

  In October 1946, Integrity was founded in New York City. It was a  magazine that attempted to "make a new synthesis of religion and life".

  Carol Robinson (1911–2002) one of its founders, describes the beginnings in an account she wrote in 1962 stating the following: "What we did have was a sharp, intense and intuitive realization that at every turn the Church and the secular world were inimical, and the certitude that truth was on the side of the Church. We had an unfeigned horror of the efforts of some Catholics to serve two masters."

 Integrity: Volume 3 (July–December 1947) 

 If men won’t do things God’s way, they run into trouble, and then they try to invent ways of staving off disaster. Our economic history for several hundred years past can best be understood as the efforts of men to build defenses against the consequences of society’s sins. Capitalism sought refuge in large fortunes and insurance. Socialism is the development, or if you like, the decadence of capitalism. It is solicitous of every detail of a man’s life in the name of security. If life under capitalism was unlovely, life under socialism is dreary beyond measure. We have two articles this month protesting the inhumanity of such an existence. (Editorial, September 1947)

Integrity was a magazine that could never compete with the bigger Catholic periodicals in terms of number of subscribers. Yet was that ever the point? What it did lack in financial wherewithal and prestige, it more than made up with its unique and deeply penetrating analysis of the problems facing Catholics in today's world.  

When you read the issues of Integrity, you are challenged to think as a Catholic, to act as a Catholic, to live as a Catholic. They did not advocate a sort of superficial piling on of devotion towards sometimes very human problems, but offered a vision to re-orient our whole life towards Christ. That was the goal of Integrity. Did they fail? It lasted 10 years, miraculously, under two editorships (Carol Robinson and Ed Willock for the first half and Dorothy Dohen, eventual professor of sociology at Fordham University, during the latter half). At their height, they had roughly 15,000 subscribers, done with little advertising but mainly through word of mouth. 

It would be easy to dismiss the importance of this "little" magazine but when you begin to read these articles you will be astonished at their relevance for the 21st century reader. They debate and wrestle with questions of the family, economics, the nature of faith, the moral life, the Sacred Liturgy, culture, recreation, fatherhood, motherhood and many other "flesh and blood" issues. That is why we at Arouca Press have begun the daunting task of republishing all of the issues of Integrity beginning with Volume 1. It is a monumental task and will take a long time but after many years of searching and obtaining individual issues, we have obtained all the issues waiting to be republished. We thank all those who are supporting this project. 

This page will keep track of all the published volumes of Integrity in a convenient place.