CNS was established in 1920 as the
National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) Press Department. In the 1960s it became the National Catholic News Service; it later dropped "National" from its name in 1986 to indicate its intention to provide worldwide coverage. It is now owned by the
USCCB, the NCWC's successor. From 2004 to 2016, Tony Spence led CNS as its director and
editor-in-chief. He was removed in April 2016 after a number of Catholics criticized his posts on
Twitter that favored
LGBT rights. In February 2021,
Pope Francis in a meeting with CNS journalists to celebrate the 100th anniversary of CNS, praised CNS as "an invaluable contribution to the
English-speaking world". On 4 May 2022, Catholic News Service announced that it would cease its operations in the United States on 31 December 2022 due to a decision of the USCCB; CNS added that its Rome
bureau would continues to operate and "continue to report on Vatican and related international events". The news agency's domestic distribution platform and archives were acquired by
Our Sunday Visitor and used to launch the new
OSV News. == Organization ==