Media: The Church is
Better Equipped Than Ever
It’s our annual opportunity to share the Good News – to promote all the programming and resources that the Catholic Communications Campaign (CCC) has to offer – and to invite our parishioners to visit the CCC website for the latest news.
This year CCC will introduce four new radio programs, a new TV special Faith Works: Across the USA, and new public service announcements continuing the theme It Starts With Faith. The Catholic Communication Campaign 2005 annual collection will generate the funding necessary to carry on the work of the church, both nationally and in our own diocese.
Each year, I make this plea to all of you because half of all the donations collected in our diocese will help offset the expense of producing the St. Augustine Catholic magazine, our diocesan website (www.dosafl.com), the magazine website and a host of marketing efforts designed to increase priestly and religious vocations, promote programs and services sponsored by the diocese and help build a better understanding of the Catholic Church through our secular news media.
The Good News reaches parishioners each and every day:
• A dad checks the Movie Reviews line before choosing a film for his family;
• An estranged son sees a television spot about reconciliation and phones his parents;
• A college student views Faith Works: Across the USA on ABC television and asks his campus minister about volunteer opportunities;
• An engaged couples’ group views To Last a Lifetime and discusses the elements for an enduring marriage;
• Parishioners access streaming video of CCC’s programming and events to keep up-to-date;
• A mom reads Views in the Pew for helpful tips and clips them for future guidance;
• A woman, running errands in her car, hears actress Margaret Colin talk about the impact of faith in her life on Catholic Radio Weekly and decides to return to church.
And the Good News is just a few clicks away: www.usccb.org/ccc. The website contains TV and radio program clips, streaming video, movie and TV reviews and access to church documents and statements from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Links to these resources are also available on the diocesan website: www.dosafl.com.
We appreciate your past support and encourage you to donate to this year’s collection, which will be taken up in all parishes the weekend of Sept. 10-11, 2005. If you have any questions about these resources and others, please call me at (904) 262-3200, ext. 110 or email: kbaggmorgan@dosafl.com.
Another educational opportunity that occurs each fall is the annual USCCB Respect Life Program. “Help build a world where human life is always loved and defended, every form of violence banished” is the theme of the yearlong program that begins with Respect Life Sunday on October 2. The theme is derived from Pope John Paul’s prayer to the Virgin Mary on Dec. 8, 2004.
Respect Life is the theme of this issue of the St. Augustine Catholic, which focuses attention on some of the more complex issues facing society today. We have produced articles that will help Catholics understand the church’s teachings on issues such as stem cell research, end-of-life care, protecting the sanctity of marriage and welcoming the stranger among us. All of our articles include information on how to become more involved and educated on the subject as well as where to obtain additional resources.
The Catholic Church is better equipped than ever before in the area of communications media. Today we have innumerable publications, radio and television stations and thousands of Internet sites – a “media sphere.” But it is expensive and we need your help to meet our Christian mission: to proclaim to every person, in the name of God, the most valuable message – the treasure of salvation.