WASHINGTON (April 21, 2005) — "This has been a year of many debuts made possible by the hard work of the staff of the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC) and our diocesan communicators with the support of our diocesan bishops and parish priests and the generosity of the people in the pews," according to Msgr. Francis J. Maniscalco, Director of the U. S. Bishops Department of Communications, which oversees the CCC.

For more than twenty-five years, the annual Catholic Communication Campaign collection has supported a variety Catholic programming both nationally and locally.

The CCC collection will be taken up in most parishes the weekend of May 14-15.

Half the collection remains in the local diocese for its own communications efforts while half supports the activities of the national CCC Office.

Among the programs supported by the CCC nationally, radio has proved to be a cost effective means of engaging people of all ages, including:

• "Catholic Radio Weekly", a news and information program, debuted in 2001 and airs on more than 75 stations;
• "Lino at Large" debuted last October. This half-hour weekly program is geared towards listeners in their 20s and 30s;
• "American Catholic Radio", produced by Franciscan Radio, debuted in June 2004 and explores the Catholic faith from a variety of perspectives;
• "Catholic Bookmarks" began production in July 2004 and features interviews and a Catholic best-sellers list.

• "Faith Works: Across the U.S.A." aired on ABC-TV affiliates in October 2004 as part of the "Vision & Values" series. It examines "typical" days in the lives of several Catholics as they live out their faith.
• "Come to the Water: The Adult Journey to Baptism" airs on ABC-TV stations Spring 2005. This program presents the spiritual journey of adults from various backgrounds seeking baptism.

The latest information about CCC is available to bishops, pastors, and parishioners on its new website, http://www.catholiccommunicationcampaign.org/news.

Visitors to this site will find information on program scheduling, the collection date for their diocese, the CCC's quarterly bulletin insert, View in the Pew, as well as reviews of current films and videos, Mass times, streaming video of featured programming or coverage of important news conferences or meetings of the bishops' conference.

The website also includes materials to assist diocesan communicators and parish priests in their efforts to promote the collection.

"Our lives are saturated with media messages. It sometimes seems that the world is full of only bad news," Msgr. Maniscalco said. "The CCC is How the Good News Gets Around."

The Catholic Communication Campaign is an activity of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that develops media programming, public service announcements, and other resources to promote Gospel values.

Donations of Catholic parishioners make possible thework of the CCC.

Contact:
Ramon E. Rodriguez
3211 Fourth Street, N. E.
Washington, DC 20017
(202) 541-3237
rrodriguez@usccb.org

For media inquiries, e-mail us at commdept@usccb.org
Department of Communications | 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington DC 20017-1194 | (202) 541-3000 © USCCB. All rights reserved.