In addition to preparing to attend Mass at Yankee Stadium, the Fahey family, of East Windsor, CT, whom we previously blogged about has produced a presentation on Pope Benedict XVI. Jen and Charles plan to attend the Mass with two of their children. The boys, who are home-educated, produced the presentation as part of their studies. They've presented it to two Catholic home-educated groups and will be sharing it with their parish once they return home after April 20.
As visitors to the site will now plainly see, EWTN's live feed is now available at the top of the home page, compliments of EWTN. Enjoy the live video coverage while you enjoy the print and photo blog coverage.
Be sure to catch Raymond Arroyo's exclusive interview with President George Bush here at 8 p.m. tonight. Arroyo is interviewing President Bush from "The World Over's" new studio at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.
As promised previously, tomorrow Pope2008.com will take on a slightly different look. EWTN's LiveFeed will begin tomorrow, appearing at the top of the Pope2008.com blog, providing live, streaming video. Once Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the U.S., you'll be able to watch EWTN's coverage of the Papal visit here, along with the content that only the National Catholic Register and its cadre of reporters and editors can provide.
An assortment of videos will be played for those who are waiting at the baseball stadiums prior to Mass. In addition to the videos produced by Catholic schoolchildren welcoming Pope Benedict, this inspiring video, from Catholics Come Home, will air on the Jumbotron at Nationals Park in D.C. The folks behind the video are also working on getting it aired at Yankee Stadium. It's one of the most inspirational and high-quality videos I've ever seen on the faith. Here's a full story on the Catholics Come Home effort.
MSNBC is looking for first person accounts from those who are going to see the Pope and why. If you're traveling to see the Pope, think about submitting your story and a photo or video. I'm sure MSNBC won't be the only media outlet looking for this. They just happen to be the first to have a request online.
To further confirm yesterday's post about the excitement building among students at Catholic University of America, there have been some additional stories indicating that young people are excited about encountering Pope Benedict. I've become aware of a number of religious orders with many younger members who will be attending various events during the Pope's visit, from his arrival in New York to the Masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Nationals Park, and Yankee Stadium, to the Blessing of Youth with Disabilities and the Youth Rally at St. Joseph's Seminary itself. Suffice it to say that should the media want to tell the story of how the youth are engaged by Pope Benedict, there should be no difficulty in telling that story.
The Washington Post goes where few other media outlets have gone - profiling young traditional Catholics (with both a print story and video) about their love of Pope Benedict and how they live their faith.
ABC 7 has a story and video on the topic. My favorite line from the story comes at the very end, where the father of one of the young people interviewed says how easy it could be for the Pope to connect with young people.
"But Logan's dad Keith thinks reaching his daughter's generation could be as easy as starting a Facebook page. ' He might be one of the only people over the age of 80 on there, but hey, why not,' he said."
Why not indeed. It's not that different from yesterday's viral video the Vatican released.
Meanwhile, this story from the Christian Post offers other ways that it sees the Pope's trip being made "hip" for young people, paying particular attention to the youth rally and the skateboard contest.
There have been several stories indicating that regarding the Pope's safety, he is trusting in God and his Guardian Angels for protection during his U.S. trip. Here's an AP video that mentions this fact.
In one of the most odd stories I've seen on the Pope's visit, comes this controversy over an ad created by D.C.'s Metro featuring a Pope bobblehead doll using the "Mass Pass" to commute to Nationals Park. Here's the ad:
Thomas Peters was one of the first to blog on the ad. By the time I got around to viewing it at YouTube it had already been taken off the site. A restored link has now been created. Here's a story from ABC 7 on the ad, which also features some video footage from the ad.
Archdiocesan officials and some area Catholics found the ad offensive, and inaccurate. The Pope bobblehead is wearing the zucchetto that would be worn by a cardinal. The Pope's would be white. He's also wearing a red cope with white, which the Pope wouldn't wear.
I'd be curious what readers think: cute or offensive, both or neither?
The Archdiocese of New York has released a 6-minute video explaining how Holy Communion will be distributed at Yankee Stadium. They are encouraging all those who are attending the Mass to watch the video, so that distribution can be safe, reverent, and timely. They've described it as their "Safety-First" video to help explain how they will distribute Holy Communion to 50,000 of the faithful in just under 15 minutes (at least that is the hope).
Rocco Palmo had the news yesterday from the Holy See Press Office of a video the Pope will be releasing this morning as a preview to his U.S. trip. Says Palmo,
"This morning, the Holy See Press Office announced that early tomorrow
will see the release of a "brief video message" from Pope Benedict
"addressed to the American people in anticipation of his visit." The
first-of-its-kind tone-setter, whose length was not specified, will
convey the pontiff's first direct comments on his impending pilgrimage
to these shores.
While Benedict had previously given prime-time TV interviews before his 2006 visit to Poland and homecoming to Bavaria or
beamed via satellite greetings to a local gathering or two awaiting his
arrival, the move underscores both the import the church's central
command is placing on next week's events and Rome's understanding of
the usefulness and impact of new technology, both on the life of the
Stateside church and the wider society here."
Once it's released, we'll post the link here.
Update: Here's the last paragraph from the greeting from the Pope, posted at YouTube. We're still waiting on the full video version of today's message.
The USCCB has created a link. Once the video is available, it will be posted there. CNN has beat the USCCB in posting the full message. John Thavis at Catholic News Service has this story on the video. John Allen said that such a message is very unusual, but came as the result of the many media requests for interviews the Pope had received.
Here's Allen: Release of a video from the pope ahead of a foreign trip is not
standard Vatican operating procedure. Vatican sources said the decision
was the result of an unusually high volume of requests for interviews
with the pope from American media outlets sparked by the impending
trip. Although the pope turned down those requests, sources said his
advisors were impressed with the interest and wanted to offer a
response.
PAPAL MESSAGE FOR HIS FORTHCOMING TRIP TO THE U.S.
VATICAN CITY, 8 APR 2008 (VIS) - A video message by the Pope addressed to
citizens of the U.S.A. was made public today. Benedict XVI is due to visit the
United States from 15 to 21 April.
Speaking English, the Holy Father offers "a heartfelt greeting and an
invitation to prayer. As you know", he continues, "I shall only be able to
visit two cities: Washington and New York. The intention behind my visit,
though, is to reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States".
After thanking the people working to organise his trip and those who are
praying for its success, Benedict XVI talks of his conviction that "without
the power of prayer, without that intimate union with the Lord, our human
endeavours would achieve very little".
"Together with your bishops, I have chosen as the theme of my journey three
simple but essential words: 'Christ our hope'. ... Jesus Christ is hope for
men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition. ...
Through him, our lives reach fullness, and together, both as individuals and
peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the
eternal plan of God the Father. I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message
is in your country. I am coming to share it with you, in a series of
celebrations and gatherings.
"I shall also bring the message of Christian hope to the great Assembly of
the United Nations", the Pope adds, "to the representatives of all the peoples
of the world. Indeed, the world has greater need of hope than ever: hope for
peace, for justice, and for freedom, but this hope can never be fulfilled
without obedience to the law of God, which Christ brought to fulfilment in the
commandment to love one another. Do to others as you would have them do to
you, and avoid doing what you would not want them to do. This 'golden rule' is
given in the Bible, but it is valid for all people, including non-believers.
It is the law written on the human heart; on this we can all agree, so that
when we come to address other matters we can do so in a positive and
constructive manner for the entire human community".
The Holy Father then goes on to address Spanish-speaking U.S. Catholics in
their own language, expressing his "spiritual closeness, especially to the
young, the sick, the elderly and those who are suffering difficulties or feel
in greatest need".
Benedict XVI concludes his message with thanks for everyone living in the
United States, "even if my itinerary is short", he says, "my heart is close to
all of you". MESS/UNITED STATES TRIP/...VIS 080408 (460)
The Archdiocese of Washington announced its winners for the youth video contest today. The top three were chosen and each group will receive 15 tickets to the April 17 Mass at Nationals Park and the opportunity to have their video shown as part of the pre-Mass program.
The winners are: Southern Maryland Catholic Elementary Schools St. Rose of Lima "Children Love Christ Choir," Gaithersburg, MD Seton School, Manassas, VA
Honorable Mention Resurrection Parish Youth Ministry, Burtonsville, MD St. Michael School, Grades Pre-K-K, Ridge, MD
47 entries were received. Entrants were invited to create a two-minute original video to welcome the pope to Washington. A panel of eight judges made up of media professionals from the Washington area and archdiocesan officials judged the entries.
"The diversity of styles
and imaginative approaches among the entries made it difficult to choose overall
winners,” said judge Patricia Ryan Garcia, Assistant Director for Digital Media
for the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
Students in grades K-8
from the 12 Catholic elementary schools in
Southern
Maryland
worked together on their entry, which they turned into a
history lesson. Their video focuses on the founding of Catholicism in the
English colonies, shooting it at three important
Southern
Maryland
sites - St. Clements Island, St. Mary’s City and Chapel
Point in Port Tobacco.
Twenty children in
grades 3-7 from St. Rose of
Lima
parish children’s choir sung an original
song welcoming the pope for their entry. The music and lyrics were written by
Margaret Ann Clifford, the parish’s composer.
One ninth grader and
four 11th graders from
Seton
School
captured their excitement for
the papal visit in their entry, which shows them going door to door letting
their neighbors know the pope is coming to
Washington
. The video is set to original music
and lyrics written and sung by the students.
The winning videos and finalist entries are available for viewing here.
More and more YouTube videos welcoming the Pope are starting to show up. Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure.
From the Byzantine Eparchy of Parma.
The JJ and Rosana Garcia family welcome the Holy Father.
Students at the Catholic University of America discuss the Pope's visit.
And last, but not least, a video from the Diocese of San Diego that was produced by students at John Paul the Great Catholic University. Michael Barber has the details on how the video came to be. Students at the university had just a week to put it together.
In addition to the video we linked to yesterday, more videos welcoming the Pope are appearing online. "Saturno tip" to Thomas Peters for providing links to videos from the Diocese of Buffalo and the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Under the direction of Chris Gillespie a group of children at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in New York have a gift for the Holy Father - the Ave Maria, composed by Gillespie. They're sharing their gift of music not only with Pope Benedict, but also with others via this video. Go take a look. It's a beautiful expression of their love. Make sure you have the volume on your speakers turned up. As time goes on, I suspect we'll be seeing other efforts, but this is among the first like it that I've seen.
According to a press release from Watertown, Mass.-based CatholicTV, on-demand video of the Pope's visit will be available at www.PopeinAmerica.com.
CatholicTV will be providing coverage of the Pope’s visit to
America on cable and via a live stream at CatholicTV.com, its Catholic
broadband network. Sky Angel IPTV subscribers can see all the coverage
on channel 142. Selected cable companies carry CatholicTV programming.
About CatholicTV®:
CatholicTV provides family-friendly religious, news, and
educational programming 24 hours daily. Founded over fifty years ago,
CatholicTV is available in selected areas in the United States and
Canada and online via a live stream anytime, everywhere at the
station's web site www.CatholicTV.com.
The station can also be seen on Sky Angel’s IPTV. Father Robert Reed, a
priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, is the Director of CatholicTV.
You read that right, not only will you be able to watch EWTN's wall-to-wall coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit on cable and at EWTN.com, but an agreement between the EWTN Global Catholic Television Network and the National Catholic Register will allow those tethered to their computers to watch complete, live, commercial-free coverage right here at www.Pope2008.com.
From EWTN: "An Apostolic Journey to the United States - Follow the Holy Father on this historic trip to Washington, DC and New York. It's an event you won't want to miss and you can see it LIVE and in its entirety on EWTN Global Catholic Network and on Pope2008.com - a National Catholic Register site. Complete. Live. Commercial-Free Coverage April 15 - 20th."
It's great to read how everyday Catholics and Catholic schoolchildren are preparing for the Pope's visit.
Hat tip to Benedict in America for this story by Tara Lynn Wagner from NY1 (the only other station to my knowledge that will be covering the Pope's visit extensively) on children from Our Lady Queen of Peace in New Dorp, who are making handmade rosaries for the pope's visit. According to the story, the students have a goal of making 600 that they plan to bring to the youth rally event at St. Joseph's Seminary.
In other news, Meghan Tierney of Gazette.net reports that students in Maryland's Montgomery County Catholic schools are preparing their entry for the Archdiocese of Washington video contest.
One video, by students in grades two through 12 at St. Mary's Church and Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Barnesville are submitting a video about a country church preparing for the pope's visit and hoping that he will veer off the beaten path to pay them a visit. Another video, from 12 high school students at Church of the Resurrection in Burtonsville submitted an entry that features prominent Catholic sites in Washington, D.C. and includes a song written and performed by the students and inspired by a quote from Pope Benedict, and a party in anticipation of the pope's 81st birthday on April 16.
But that's not all.
Says the article: "Other local groups entering the video contest include St. Jude Catholic
School in Rockville, the St. Rose of Lima Children Love Christ Choir in
Gaithersburg and a group of county home-school students, according to
Kathy Dempsey, another Archdiocese spokeswoman.
As part of the build up to the historic visit, St. Jude has also made a
pope paper chain and is beginning each day with the Pope’s Prayer. St.
Peter’s Parish in Olney is hosting a pope trivia night for youths on
March 30. And St. Catherine Labouré church in Wheaton will be talking
to high school students about the pope on April 11."
Students from Southern Maryland's Catholic primary schools are making a video to welcome the Pope. It's part of the competition being held by the Archdiocese of Washington. You can find out more about the contest, or how to apply at the Archdiocese's website. The creators of the winning video will win tickets to the Mass in Washington, D.C., and also have their video shown on the Jumbotron at the stadium. The Washington Post has the story.
The students decided to highlight historical points of interest for Maryland Catholics, such as St. Clement's Island - site of the first Mass in the 13 colonies, St. Mary's City, and St. Ignatius Church at Chapel Point. Given the Pope's interest in history, they just may have hit upon a winning idea.
"I think it is special because [Pope Benedict XVI] is the closest person to Jesus. It is almost like making a video for Jesus," said Angela Wilt, 12, a seventh-grader at Holy Angels Sacred Heart in Avenue.
Fox News Washington has video footage of last night's first choir rehearsal for the Pope's D.C. Mass. Roz Plater reports that the choir includes five sets of parents and kids. Choir members are expected to attend 7 rehearsals, each 2.5 hours long. There are 134 page of music, and the choir will not be able to do a dress rehearsal at the stadium until the evening before their performance.
The USCCB now has its own Papal Visit blog with entries by various USCCB communications staff.
Among the interesting items you'll find there are some details regarding the "Welcome Holy Father" video contest. This contest is open to Catholic youth groups of five or more in grades K-12 in the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Arlington. Winning groups will receive tickets to the Nationals Park Mas and the opportunity to watch their video on high-definition big screens at the ballpark. For further details on the contest, visit http://www.adw.org/papalvisit/video.asp.
Here's the official press release on the launch of the blog.
WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An inside view of papal visit preparations, views from the pew, and reflections on the meaning of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, April 15-20, can be found on the papal visit blog at http://www.uspapalvisit.org. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department for Communications launched the blog March 10, with initial entries from USCCB staff. Their comments include everything from a reflection on the theme by Helen Osman, Secretary for Communications; observations on the ethnic diversity of today's church in the United States by Jesuit Father Allan Deck, head of the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity; and an observation by Pat Ryan Garcia, assistant director for USCCB Digital Media, that the pope is blessing both baseball leagues on his visit: He will offer Mass in a National League stadium in Washington (Nationals Park) and an American League park in New York (Yankee Stadium). The first blog comment posted on the site comes from a former catechist in Pennsylvania who is hoping for a ticket to a papal Mass. The blog is a new USCCB effort spearheaded by the USCCB's new Office for Digital Media. The http://www.uspapalvisit.org Web page is also a source of information for the general public as well as for media covering the event. Reporters and editors will access materials for their purposes through a password-protected section. http://www.uspapalvisit.org provides links to various venues of the visit, background on the pope and the church in the United States and offers teaching resources provided by the Archdiocese of Washington.
Pope Benedict XVI is coming to America and Australia. The National Catholic Register wants to make sure you don’t miss out.
Tim Drake, our Senior Writer, will provide you with up-to-the-minute reports on news and preparations, and will blog directly from papal events, right here. To reach the author with news tips, photos, stories, or press releases, email: tdrake[at]tdrake[dot]clearwire[dot]net
Leon Suprenant, Catholics United for the Faith "This site has a lot of good information on it, from commentary and articles concerning what the Pope will talk about when he’s here, to very practical items concerning the papal Masses and local transportation."
