“We’ve made the deeply difficult decision to shut it down as of April 1 – difficult because we’re beyond proud of the journalism and the journalists who have produced it, day after day, month over month, for the past year and a half,” McGrory and Skok said.

“The problem is the business. We simply haven’t been able to develop the financial model of big-ticket, Catholic-based advertisers that was envisioned when we launched Crux back in September 2014.”

McGrory and Skok said there will be “several layoffs” involved in cutting ties with Crux. They described these layoffs as “our biggest regret.” Crux editor Teresa Hanafin will be redeployed in a position in the Boston Globe newsroom.

“We vowed to make Crux a place where all voices could be heard, and we stuck to that pledge,” Hanafin said on Crux March 11.

The Boston Globe is owned by businessman John Henry, who is also principal owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

Crux was launched in September 2014. It aspired to cover “all things Catholic” with content to appeal to active Catholics, “casual” Catholics who may not be regular Mass attendees, and general readers interested in Pope Francis, religion and spirituality.

At the time of the news site’s launch, Allen told CNA that the Catholic Church’s global presence and rich traditions justify focused news coverage. “(T)he Catholic Church matters and needs to be taken seriously by mainstream news outlets,” he said.