What does one do with a child who asks too many questions and seems to have a flair for writing?

Well, once Marie Donahue accepted the fact that her son wasn’t going to become a priest, she encouraged what seemed to be the natural career choice . . . a journalist.

Chris Donahue, our newest staff writer at The Catholic Spirit, credits his late mother for nurturing the love for reading and writing that has led him to dedicating his professional life to newspaper work.

Born Aug. 15, 1955 in Springfield, Mass., Christopher M. Donahue is the fourth of six children of John and Marie Donahue. His father, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a chemical engineer, and his mother, an English major who graduated from Regis College in Weston Mass. was a homemaker. It was a very religious upbringing, one that was steeped in humility. "I was a Boston Red Sox fan all my life . . . enough said," he quipped.

When he was 9 years old, the family moved to Delaware, where Chris would spend the next 36 years. Chris’ mother died in 1993 and his father now lives in Maine with second wife, Jackie.

Growing up, Chris remembers that his was a two newspaper family … poring over the morning and evening editions of the local daily papers.

After graduating from the University of Delaware with a bachelor of arts degree in English/Journalism, Chris took a job with the News Journal in Wilmington, Del. He worked there for nearly 18 years; 13 on the sports desk and five as a news reporter. He followed that up with a one-year stint as sports editor at the Newark Post in Delaware, with which he maintained a long-standing freelance relationship.

In what he describes as the best move he ever made, Chris met a "Jersey girl" in 1999, relocating to the Garden State and marrying her in 2000. He says of his marriage to Cathryn McCarthy Donahue, "It was based first on faith, and that still serves us today." He and his wife, who is an English professor at the College of Mount St. Vincent, Bronx, N.Y., and an associate of the Sisters of Charity, are members of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Milltown, where they attend Adoration once a week and Mass on Sunday. Chris is also a third degree member of his parish’s Knights of Columbus council.

Chris picked up his journalism career in New Jersey, signing on as a news reporter with The Courier-News in Bridgewater from March, 2000 to September 2003, at which time he joined The Spirit.

Even after 24 years as a journalist, Chris’ enthusiasm for his work remains unfettered. He tells me, "To me, journalism has always been writing about people. Whether the subject is a bridge, or a new building, I always wanted to find out who designed it; who built it.

"The same could hold true with writing about faith; what brings people to where they are; whether they’re a member of the clergy or the laity. It’s interesting to learn how they use their faith on a daily basis, and how it helps them in times of crisis," he said.

Chris, who says that he likes being able to write about faith matters without the constraints of the secular press, said of his inclusion on The Spirit team, "It took me only a few hours to feel like I was home, in many ways — not only because of the subject matter, but the work environment."

In his spare time, Chris works as a soccer official, and enjoys running and reading, especially historical works.

"And I pray to St. Joseph each day, because he covers a lot of requests," he added.

Since starting with us last month, Chris has already had a positive impact on our local coverage in The Spirit. I speak for the entire staff when I say how delighted we are to work with someone with such enthusiasm and professionalism.