Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
March 27, 2002
Local Catholic TV programs to get new looks
`The Catholic Hour' to go on location; `Mass for Shut-ins' to go live
By Roxanne King
Fans of "The Catholic Hour" should be aware that the program will be off the air in April, but will return in a fresh new format in May, administrators said.
The temporary interruption in programming is the most visible sign of changes the Archdiocese of Denver's Office of Television and Radio is undergoing as it seeks to continue its ministry in a more cost-effective way, said Greg Kail, Communications Secretary for the archdiocese.
In addition to "The Catholic Hour," the office also provides the "Mass for Shut-ins" and its Spanish equivalent "La Santa Misa." All current programming will continue, Kail said, but "The Catholic Hour" will be the project of a new nonprofit enterprise.
"`The Catholic Hour' will be off the air for one month but will be resurrected through Good News Productions with Melissa Pierson. This is a creative way to continue `The Catholic Hour,' which means so much to many viewers," Kail said. "We're excited about our new partnership with Good News Productions and we're grateful for the tremendous gift that they are giving to the Church now and in the future."
"The Catholic Hour" broadcasts Sundays at 7 a.m. and Fridays at 1 p.m. on KBDI-TV Channel 12. The last program produced by the archdiocese will air on Easter, March 31. It will resume at its regular Sunday time May 5, but will air Fridays at 4 p.m. beginning May 10.
Longtime Catholic Hour director/producer Melissa Pierson formed The Good News Productions to continue her beloved program.
"The staff of `The Catholic Hour' submitted a proposal to the archdiocese offering to continue to produce the show on a volunteer basis and to raise the funding for the airtime if they could use the video production equipment," Pierson said. "Archbishop Charles Chaput accepted this proposal."
Pierson has been with the 18-year-old show since its inception. She was hired by the program's founder, the late Msgr. C.B. "Father Woody" Woodrich. The last show produced by the archdiocese will be the 900th episode. The program will resume on Father Woody's birthday.
"It just worked out that way and we took it as a sign that Father Woody was at work," Pierson said. "It was very encouraging — we took it as a sign from God that we should continue."
Although the change is difficult, Pierson said she is grateful to those whose generous support is making the show's continuation possible, primarily the archbishop and Channel 12, and is excited about taking the program out of the studio and into the community.
"What we're hoping to do is take it to the grassroots level," she said. "We've been strictly focused on pastoral center events, but we want to be more focused on what's happening at the parishes — what Catholics are doing, how Catholics are living the faith in their daily lives."
Good News Productions also will continue to offer low-cost video production services to archdiocesan offices, organizations, schools and parishes.
"We're grateful for this opportunity to continue to serve the archdiocesan community," Pierson said. "As the Holy Father Pope John Paul II has said, we must continue `preaching and teaching the Good News using every resource available in modern society.'"
Changes are also in the works for the programs that will continue to be produced by the archdiocese. For the first time, the "Mass for Shut-ins," which has been taped at Christ the King Chapel at the John Paul II Center, will now be broadcast live from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The new version of the show will air April 7.
"We hope that people who can't go to Mass because of some physical limitation will be able to more actively participate in the liturgy," Kail said. "We want them to know the Church loves them and that they are in a real way part of a community united by that Mass."
Father Phil Meredith, pastor of All Souls Parish in Englewood, has been the "Mass for Shut-ins" celebrant. His tenure with the show will end at Easter. Father Andreas Höck, a professor at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, will be the celebrant when the Mass goes live April 7.
"Father Meredith has been a tremendous gift to the `Mass for Shut-ins' community and we're so grateful for his dedicated service and the bonds he formed with his televised `parish,'" Kail said. "For those viewers who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Father Höck, they're going to find him to be a wonderful priest and celebrant."
Changes in the works for "La Santa Misa," which broadcasts 6:30 a.m. Sundays on KMAS Telemundo channels 63 and 67 over the air and on Channel 60 on the AT&T Broadband, include it being taped at the cathedral, rather than being taped at the John Paul II Center.
"Television is an expensive ministry, but we wanted to continue it," Kail said. "In this model we're continuing to reach out to as many Catholics as possible through the airwaves and were doing it in a design that reflects good stewardship."
For more information about "The Catholic Hour" or to support the ministry, call 303-470-8263 or write P.O. Box 262133, Littleton, CO 80163.
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