Michael Guilfoyle, left, director of communications for the Diocese of Providence, and the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin unveil the renamed diocesan newspaper yesterday at Providence’s Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy Mary Murphy

In what he called an “historic and exciting” moment that will help propel the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence into the modern media age, the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin yesterday unveiled a new look and new name for the diocese’s weekly newspaper, which has been published since 1875, when an Irish immigrant was the state’s first Catholic bishop.

Starting with today’s issue, The Providence Visitor will be the Rhode Island Catholic. Graphically, the new paper has a cleaner, more contemporary look with larger type, better use of photographs, and superior organization that makes for easier reading. The new paper’s motto is “Faith, Family & Life Since 1875.”

The old paper, Bishop Tobin said, “served its purpose well, and has been a dependable source of information and formation for several generations of Catholics.” He thanked Visitor staff members for their work.

But Bishop Tobin, 59, who diligently follows religious and secular news — and who writes a popular column for the diocesan paper — decided soon after arriving in Providence in 2005 that The Visitor seemed tired and gray, not the image he wanted to project to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It was indeed weary-looking. A side-by-side comparison of the old publication with the new shows a world of difference: visually, the Rhode Island Catholic leaves it predecessor far behind.

The new paper has a new Web site, which is still under development. Bishop Tobin has also ordered a redesign of the diocese’s Web site to bring it to a contemporary standard. That project is not completed yet, either.

“The changing spiritual and pastoral challenges of our times require us to be open to new approaches and strategies,” Bishop Tobin said. “Upon my arrival in Providence, it became apparent to me that our newspaper could be even more effective and attractive than it already was.”

The bishop spoke during a news conference in the basement of Providence’s Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul, built by the diocese’s first bishop, the Most Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken, who was born in Ireland. Having been transferred from Youngstown, Ohio, Bishop Tobin was installed in the cathedral in an elaborate Mass two years ago today.

The Rhode Island Catholic is one of several initiatives that have made Bishop Tobin’s young tenure distinctive. The bishop has revamped the annual Catholic Charity Fund appeal, tightened diocesan finances, and been a regular guest on TV and radio programs, where his opposition to gay marriage and support of immigrants’ rights have drawn controversy. He was the driving force behind moving the body of Hendricken from a dusty crypt in the cathedral basement to a more dignified resting place inside a Brazilian granite tomb upstairs during an elaborate Mass and re-entombment ceremony that drew hundreds last December.

The front page of the maiden issue of Rhode Island Catholic features a large photograph of Catholic schoolchildren planting a garden as part of a fundraising effort, a tease to an inside story about a “biker priest,” a welcome from Bishop Tobin, and the first of a three-part series about the toll of human trafficking in Rhode Island, notably on women engaged in prostitution against their will in some of the state’s massage parlors. A loophole in Rhode Island law that some legislators seek to close does not outlaw prostitution indoors. Police raids, writes assistant editor Brian J. Lowney, brought squalid conditions to light: “Often, the women found in these filthy brothels littered with mattresses and suitcases were South Korean immigrants.”

The inside pages of the new paper are divided into clearly defined sections, including diocesan news, Catholic sports, world and nation, commentary, and the bishop’s column: “Without a Doubt,” which this week slams Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani for his support of abortion rights. A photo on the second page shows a smiling pre-kindergarten student at a Catholic school in Newport wearing Bishop Tobin’s scarlet zucchetto, or skullcap. One goal of the paper is to better cover Catholic parishes and schools.

Bishop Tobin hopes that the Rhode Island Catholic will reflect the diocese’s willingness to participate in the public discourse. But as publisher, one of many hats he wears, he has no intention of moving the paper away from what he describes as its core responsibility: to the teachings of Jesus and the Roman Catholic Church. “The essential mission of a Catholic newspaper is found in the words of Jesus Christ who commissioned his apostles to ‘go forth and teach,’ ” Bishop Tobin said.

An editorial in today’s paper states: “We will not print opinions that are in contradiction of church teaching — any more than a newspaper for, say, Greenpeace would print a letter in support of the slaughter of whales.”

With his first-year agenda filled with more immediate matters, the bishop began to move in earnest toward a new paper several months ago. He had his staff seek advice from the Catholic Press Association, and then he hired Providence’s Creative Circle Media Consulting to help redesign the paper. He hired a new editor and general manager, Marcia Grann O’Brien, a convert from the Lutheran Church to Roman Catholicism. Bishop Tobin kept a hand in the redesign, and chose the new name; “Visitor,” he has quipped, sounded more like a tourist guide than a Catholic publication.

Diocese communications director Michael K. Guilfoyle, a Tobin appointee, began yesterday’s news conference noting the coincidence of “two historical events”: the launch of the new paper, and the second anniversary of Bishop Tobin’s installation.

When the bishop took the podium, he joked about the timing of the news conference, which was scheduled several weeks ago.

“When Michael mentioned the two great events we are observing today,” the bishop said, “along with the launching of the new paper, I thought he was referring to the return of Buddy Cianci to New England!”

The audience laughed. The bishop makes a habit of bringing humor to his public appearances, and many of his sermons.

With its approximately 700,000 Catholics, many the descendants of Irish, Italian and French-Canadian immigrants, Rhode Island is the nation’s most heavily Catholic state. The paper has a circulation of nearly 30,000, according to Guilfoyle.

The Rhode Island Catholic Web site, still under construction, is:

http://www.thericatholic.com/

The diocese Web site, which is being redesigned, is:

http://www.dioceseofprovidence.org/

gwmiller@projo.com