May 12, 2010

Catholic media: Connecting the world with God’s word

By Denver Catholic Register

The mission of the Catholic media is the same as that of the Church—to announce the good news of Jesus Christ.

Recognizing the essential role of Catholic media in the work of evangelization, the U.S. bishops’ have chosen “Help Us Connect the World with God’s Word!” as the theme of the 2010 collection for the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC), to be taken up in the Denver Archdiocese the weekend of May 15-16.

The CCC collection funds a variety of communications projects that include newspapers, television, radio and the Internet. Catholic Communication Campaign funded projects connect parishioners and parish communities to the word of God and the universal Church.

Half of the funds collected each year remain in the archdiocese to support its communications tools, including the weekly Denver Catholic Register newspaper, the Spanish-language monthly El Pueblo Católico, the Web site www.archden.org and the televised Sunday Masses, one in English and one in Spanish. A special initiative this year was promotion of the Year for Priests via “A Priest’s Chalice” series in the Denver Catholic Register, a holy card, a prayer calendar and a Web page.

The remaining 50 percent of the Catholic Communication Campaign collection funds national Catholic media projects, including public service announcements and Web resources such as the For Your Marriage Web site at www.foryourmarriage.org, a dynamic resource for engaged and married couples, as well as the daily liturgical readings, the New American Bible and podcasts and videos on www.usccb.org and on YouTube.

May 16 is World Communications Day. In this year’s World Communications Day message, Pope Benedict XVI noted: “The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame ... everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom 10:11, 13-14).

Indeed—the Catholic media is essential to the Church’s evangelical mission.

“In a culture saturated by messages of materialism and secularism, the message of the Catholic faith is needed more than ever before,” Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., said in a recent letter to priests encouraging support for the Catholic Communication Campaign collection. “In short, without the efforts of the CCC at both the national and local level, it would become difficult to connect the faithful with the good news of Jesus Christ and to guide them in the truth of the Catholic faith in a time when they so desperately need it.

“Please be generous to this year’s Catholic Communication Campaign,” he continued. “Please also remember that the Archdiocese of Denver keeps half of all the proceeds it raises from this collection, to fund (its) local initiatives. … Your donation is crucial to their continuation.”

OTHER RECOMMENDED READING - AND VIDEO-WATCHING:

"Without Fear We Want to Set Out Upon the Digital Sea"
Pope's address on the media and the Internet
English translation provided by Zenit News Agency

Pope Benedict to promote using new media to evangelize
Catholic News Agency

Do you know how fast media is changing?
Watch this YouTube video for a quick snapshot...

THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER & NEW MEDIA
Check out the Denver Archdiocese’s new media tools:

• “Friend” us on Facebook!
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• "Become a Fan" of Archbishop Chaput on Facebook!
  www.facebook.com/archbishopchaput
   
• “Subscribe” to our YouTube account
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• Podcasts & RSS feeds:
  Listen to homilies by both Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Conley!