Palm Sunday is April 5. Set up photo ops with palms early in the week for Sunday newspapers.

The Holy Week Triduum -- Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday -- April 9-11, offers an opportunity to educate media. This might be a time to ask liturgical offices to provide media with a brief description of what symbols and rites are highlighted each day in Holy Week. Among them: chrism, water, fire, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and veneration of the cross.

Passover is April 11-18.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults will culminate in thousands of men and women being baptized or coming into full communion with the Church on Holy Saturday, April 11. It can provide faith-sharing stories to be heralded all month long. Currently the U.S. Bishops' Office for Evangelization is studying the growth and impact of RCIA programs. For more information, contact Paulist Father John Hurley at 202 541-3012.

Easter Sunday is April 12. Consider how to provide photo ops ahead of time for print media who will want Easter Sunday pictures. Schools and religious education programs might be one photo op source.

On Easter Sunday, April 12, the Folk Choir of the University of Notre Dame will be featured in Easter at the University of Notre Dame: A Celebration of Hope, an hour-long special to be distributed to NBC-TV stations. The program is produced by the Catholic Communication Campaign in cooperation with Golden Dome Productions, South Bend, Indiana. The program also is available on videocassette with a discussion guide for classroom and parish use. To order, call the U.S. bishops' Office for Publishing and Promotion Services (OPPS) 1-800-235-8722. Cost is $29.95 plus 10 percent shipping and handling per order ($3.00 minimum). Order number is 5-265.

The National Catholic Educational Association's 95th annual convention and exposition, Spotlighting the Mosaic of Catholic Education, will be April 14-17 in Los Angeles. This year the NCEA is honoring the eleven founding institutions of its Seminary Department, which evolved into the current NCEA.

The Synod of Bishops for Asia will take place at the Vatican April 19-May 14.

The National Catholic Conference of Airport Chaplains will meet April 21-24 in Charlotte, NC. For further information, contact Father David J. Baratelli, Newark Airport, 973-961-0260.

National Catholic Committee on Scouting convention will be in Columbus, April 21-25.

The National Association of Diaconate Directors annual convention meets in San Diego, April 22-25. The theme is No Strangers Among Us. Speakers include Jesuit Father Walter Burghardt, Sister of Charity Edith Prendergast, John Yzaguirre and Father Nick Rice.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is April 23.

The National Conference of Catechetical Leadership Convention is in Milwaukee April 26-April 30.

The first Catholic Home Missions Appeal will be taken up in most dioceses April 26. The theme for the collection is "Strengthening the Church at Home." Promotional and educational materials were sent to dioceses last month. The appeal helps keep parishes functioning as it funds diocesan evangelization efforts, training programs for ministry, religious education programs and outreach to growing ethnic and migrant communities. For more information, contact Mary Mencarini Campbell at 202-541-3010.

Meetings of the National Workshop for Christian Unity and National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers, will be in St. Paul, April 27-30. Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee is the keynote speaker and will receive the Catholic Ecumenical Award at the National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers' annual luncheon. Archbishop Alexander Brunett will speak at the Episcopal, Lutheran and Catholic Luncheon.

Kits for Catechetical Sunday 1998 are available. To order, call the U.S. bishops' Office for Publishing and Promotion Services (OPPS) 1-800-235-8722. Cost is $12.95, plus 10 percent shipping and handing per order ($3.00 minimum). Publication number for the kit is 5-248. Prayer cards, certificates, and posters are for sale separately.

The video Open Wide the Doors: How to Prepare for Jubilee Year 2000, developed by Resources for Christian Living (RCL) for the Bishops' Subcommittee for the Millennium is available from RCL. The video shows how to prepare for the Jubilee Year 2000 in parishes, schools, and home. Comes complete with a user's guide. Cost is $9.95 plus $2.00 shipping. To order, call 1-800-822-6701 or fax to 1-800-688-8356.

Open Wide the Doors to Christ: A Personal Reflection on the Jubilee Year 2000, a video which originated in the Bishops' Subcommittee on the Millennium, is available from OPPS. List price is $9.95 plus 10 percent shipping and handling per order($3.00 minimum). Publication number is 5-215. To order, call 1-800-235-8722.

Called to Global Solidarity: International Challenges for U.S. Parishes, a resource developed by the USCC Department of Social Development and World Peace, is available from OPPS in English and Spanish. Cost is $5.95 plus 10 percent shipping and handling per order ($3.00 minimum). Publication number: 5-118 (English) and 5-119 (Spanish). To order call 1-800-235-8722.

UPDATE ON MEDIA TRAINING. Registrants for the Bishops' Media Seminar to date include bishops as well as diocesan communication directors and associate directors, chancellors, vicar generals and department heads. First archdioceses and dioceses to sign up include Austin, Boston, Brownsville, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Davenport, Evansville, Fall River, Fresno, Jefferson City, Joliet, Kansas City-St Joseph, La Crosse, Lafayette (Indiana), Lansing, Newark, New York, Palm Beach, Peoria, Portland (Oregon), Reno, Rockford, Rockville Centre, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Santa Fe, Seattle, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Springfield (Massachusetts), Stamford and the Virgin Islands.

Media Training is slated for Salt Lake City, April 28; Cincinnati, May 5; Tampa, September 22-23 and New York City, September 29-30.

The 1998 Source Book, which lists USCC staff who have expertise in everything from abortion to youth ministry, is available free of charge for distribution to media. For further information, contact USCC Department of Communications, 202-541-3200.

E-MAIL. The NCCB/USCC Communications Department can contact the following 108 archdioceses, dioceses and eparchy by e-mail.

ALASKA: Fairbanks, Juneau. ARIZONA: Phoenix, Tucson. CALIFORNIA: Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose. COLORADO: Denver. CONNECTICUT: Hartford, Bridgeport. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Washington. FLORIDA: Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Venice. GEORGIA: Savannah. HAWAII: Honolulu. IDAHO: Boise. ILLINOIS: Chicago, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield. INDIANA: Evansville, Forth Wayne-South Bend, Indianapolis, Lafayette. IOWA: Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque. KANSAS: Kansas City in Kansas. KENTUCKY: Louisville, Lexington. LOUISIANA: Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Houma-Thibodaux, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Shreveport. MASSACHUSETTS: Boston, Melkite Diocese of Newton. MICHIGAN: Detroit, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Marquette. MINNESOTA: New Ulm, St. Paul and Minneapolis. MISSISSIPPI: Jackson. MISSOURI: Jefferson City, Springfield-Cape Girardeau. MONTANA: Helena. NEBRASKA: Omaha. NEVADA: Las Vegas. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Manchester. NEW JERSEY: Camden, Newark, Passaic, Trenton. NEW MEXICO: Las Cruces. NEW YORK: Brooklyn, Buffalo, New York, Ogdensburg. Rochester, Rockville Centre; Syracuse. NORTH CAROLINA: Charlotte, Raleigh. NORTH DAKOTA: Bismarck, Fargo. OHIO: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo. OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma City, Tulsa. OREGON: Baker, Portland. PENNSYLVANIA: Erie, Pittsburgh. RHODE ISLAND: Providence. SOUTH CAROLINA: Charleston. SOUTH DAKOTA: Sioux Falls. TENNESSEE: Memphis. TEXAS: Amarillo, Austin, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Ft. Worth, San Angelo, Victoria. VERMONT: Burlington. WASHINGTON: Seattle, Spokane, Yakima. WEST VIRGINIA: Wheeling-Charleston. WISCONSIN: Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse.

If any communications director wants to be added to the list, please e-mail me at mwalsh@nccbuscc.org.

For media inquiries, e-mail us at commdept@usccb.org
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