NAB Daily Readings Podcasts
The USCCB launched audio podcasts of the daily readings from the New American Bible in 2007 with funding from the Catholic Communication Campaign. Videos of reflections on the Scriptures supplement the readings. The Offices for Digital Media and Publishing collaborate on this project, and bishops, seminarians, USCCB staff members and other volunteers lend their talent. This is the most popular section of the USCCB Web site, receiving in 2008 more than 13 million visitors (about 4.7 million of those unique visitors).
Video projects
Recognizing that people expect strong visuals to help explain the Church’s message, USCCB Digital Media staff has been expanding its video projects. The Conference is now on YouTube and has longer videos on a variety of topics catalogued on its own site. Most videos on our home page are also produced by Digital Media, which is funded entirely through the Catholic Communication Campaign.
Adult Catechism DVD
The US Catholic Catechism for Adults video DVD project is designed to create a highly engaging means to introduce the US Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA) to Catholics in the pews, promote the published USCCA and provide a tremendous tool for catechists to further the educational goals of the USCCB. The 90-minute video will focus on the four pillars of the catechism: Creed (our faith professed), Sacraments (our faith celebrated), Christian Morality (our faith lived), and Prayer (our faith prayed). It is scheduled to be available by spring 2010.
American Catholic Radio
Produced by Franciscan Radio, this weekly, 30-minute Catholic radio program, in the popular style of the Franciscans, carries features such as Saint of the Day , Living Faith, Ask a Franciscan, Minute Meditations, Portrait of Paul and Exploring Our Faith.
Catholic Bookmarks
Catholic Bookmarks gives a Catholic sensibility of books and their authors. Host Frank Morock interviews authors from various genres and provides the Catholic Book Publishers' Association weekly top ten bestsellers.
Catholic Radio Weekly
Hosts Johnny Holliday and Carole Lehan invite prominent Catholics from the world of entertainment, literature and sports to address current issues from a Catholic perspective. Regular features include a news report from Catholic News Service, film reviews from the Office of Film & Broadcasting and ‘Facts of Faith,’ as well as features that highlight the work of the USCCB and other Catholic organizations.
For Your Marriage
What have you done for your marriage today? That’s the question the Catholic Church asks in a series of TV and radio spots and a Web site launched in June 2007 by the U.S. bishops. A collaborative effort of the USCCB Committee on Communications and the Subcommittee on Marriage and Family Life, the campaign is part of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ multi-year National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage. The initiative aims to convey the meaning and value of married life for the Church and for society. Visit foryourmarriage.org to view and listen to the messages and for a wealth of resources to help couples build strong marriages.
Interrupted Lives: Catholic Sisters Under European Communism
They freely dedicated their lives to serve the least of their brothers and sisters. But then communism seized control of their countries, forcing them to work for the state. Interrupted Lives, produced by the Sisters of St. Joseph, explores the experiences of Greek and Roman Catholic sisters during the 40-year Soviet domination of Eastern and Central Europe. From the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall, these “sisters survivors” endured imprisonment, exile to Siberia, forced farm and factory labor, deportation, seizure of their schools and hospitals and underground survival. Interviews offer a powerful testimony of faith, courage and endurance.
Watch a trailer
Read the CNS article
Interfaith Broadcasting Commission
Every year the USCCB, which is a member of the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission, provides programming to the major network affiliates through a partnership program spearheaded by the IBC. Recent contributions have included a network-version of “Interrupted Lives,” a program on vocations entitled “Callings,” and Easter and Christmas Masses.
Lino at Large
"Catholic radio for 'Generation X'," this fast-paced half-hour weekly program geared toward young adult Catholics and non-Catholics explores the beauty, excitement, and challenges of being Catholic in today's world. Inspired by "Generation Cross," a widely-acclaimed Minneapolis-area cable television show that Lino Rulli created and hosted for six years, it also airs on the Catholic Channel, Channel 159 on Sirius Radio.
Movie and Television Reviews
Every year the USCCB Office of Film and Broadcasting provides nearly 1,000 reviews of film and television productions. The reviews garner nearly seven percent of all traffic to the USCCB Web site.
Personally Speaking with Msgr. Jim Lisante
Personally Speaking with Msgr. Jim Lisante is a half-hour weekly radio program that features interviews with prominent people of faith who discuss some of the things that matter most in life — their families, their careers, their accomplishments, and perhaps most importantly, the role that their faith plays in all three.
The Posadas Project
Founded in 2005, the Posadas Project promotes the celebration of Las Posadas, a popular Advent tradition from Mexico. And, in the spirit of the US bishops’ call to welcome the stranger and support legal immigration into this country, it advocates for hospitality and solidarity with immigrants. The CCC funded the distribution of a DVD to Catholic parishes, schools and other groups.
Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
For more than a decade, the Catholic Communication Campaign has been developing and producing public service announcements (PSAs) that share Gospel values with a nationwide audience and present a positive image of the Catholic Church in the United States. To date, these PSAs have generated more than 1.8 billion audience impressions and have received an estimated $30 million in donated time from broadcast and cable outlets.
Radio Soleil Productions
Soleil Productions in Haiti produces inspirational Catholic radio dramas in the local language that are heard throughout the country. The producers invite young people to participate in the writing, production and broadcasting of the program, providing valuable training and experience to those eager to develop their talents.
Training for diocesan staff
Intense, one-day sessions are made available to bishops and their staff that provide training in crisis communications, how to respond to media inquiries, communication strategizing, the dizzying world of Web 2.0 and other topics important to Church communicators.
Tu Compañero Católico
An evangelization project of the Redemptorists, this half-hour, Gabriel Award winning, weekly Spanish language radio program began in 1998. Through its various segments, the program provides spiritual and religious content, practical “how-to” advice about jobs, housing, and health concerns, legal commentary and the challenges of living in a multi-cultural society. It also provides entertainment in the form of Latino music selections of religious, folklorico and popular origin. This year, a Catholic Communication Campaign grant will help the producers market and distribute Tu Compañero Católico to even more stations.
Web Sites
The USCCB flagship Web site, www.usccb.org, is designed, maintained and supported by the USCCB Digital Media office, funded entirely by the Catholic Communication Campaign. The staff is continually working to make the site more accessible and useful to English-speaking Catholics, wherever they live! Other sites that receive the attention of the Digital Media staff include Catholic News Service, the site on the bishops’ document, Faithful Citizenship, the site covering the 2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States , and Bridging Refugee Youth & Children Services.