USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Catholic Radio Weekly to Be Launched in April by CCC

Catholic Radio Weekly to Be Launched in April by CCC

WASHINGTON (March 21, 2001) -- Catholic Radio Weekly, a half-hour radio program produced by the U.S. Bishops' Catholic Communication Campaign, will be launched in April.

Veteran radio broadcasters Johnny Holiday and Carol Lehan, host of the Paulist program Sunday to Sunday will co-host the program which is being piloted in more than 20 dioceses.

The program is being produced at Paulist Media Works and will be made available to dioceses and radio stations nationwide free of charge.

The first program is to air April 1.

Featured Guests on the premiere program include Dr. Bill Baker, executive producer of The Face: Jesus in Art, and head of public TV station WNET, in New York; Billy Packer, CBS NCAA Basketball Analyst; Father Michael Bugarin, executive director of the newly opened Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. The show also will include a segment on Welcoming the Stranger Among Us, the U.S. bishops' document on unity and diversity. Regular segments will include media reviews by Gerri Pare and Anne Navarro, of the USCC Office for Film and Broadcasting, and Closer Look with Msgr. Jim Lisante talking on issues of faith with religious leaders and entertainers.

The second program, set to air April 8, 2001, will feature Dr. Jim Clifton, chief writer for The Face: Jesus in Art, a documentary set to air nationwide on PBS stations in April; Father James Moroney, Director of the Bishops' Liturgy Office; Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, author and death penalty opponent who was portrayed in the award-winning movie Dead Man Walking; Dick Gregory, activist and comedian; Father Robert Vitillo, Executive Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, who will speak on the bishops' Criminal Justice Reform Initiative; and a segment featuring Gerri Pare, Director of the USCC Office for Film and Broadcasting.

Initial subscribers include the Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi; Diocese of Buffalo, New York; Diocese of Burlington, Vermont; Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas; Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa; Diocese of Evansville, Indiana; Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota; Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan; Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky; Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky; Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey; Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon; Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island; Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina; Diocese of Toledo, Ohio; KBVM Catholic Radio in Portland, Oregon; and WBVM-WLMS Radio in Tampa, Florida.

Other arch/dioceses and radio stations interested in airing the program can contact Pat Ryan Garcia at 202-541-3204.