EWTN Press Release: October 4, 2012

EWTN 'Year of Faith' Facebook Posts: From the Opening Mass to Shows on the Documents of Vatican II, We've Got You Covered!




Irondale, AL – Don’t miss the Opening Mass of the “Year of Faith,” where Pope Benedict XVI is expected to deliver a stirring homily to help the faithful live it fully! Airs live on EWTN at 4 a.m. ET, Thursday, Oct. 11 from St. Peter’s Square in Rome, with an encore at 6:30 p.m. ET. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.
What two saints are being named new doctors of the Church? Tune in to the Opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops and find out. Airs live at 3:30 a.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 7, with an encore at noon ET on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.
What exactly is a Synod of Bishops and why is Pope Benedict convening one? Find out in this week’s “Vaticano,” EWTN’s weekly news magazine. The 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome is "aimed primarily at Europe and North America, concentrating on the societies where Christianity was once dominant but has seen a dramatic drop in influence in recent decades." Airs 10 a.m. ET, Sundays, 11 p.m. ET Mondays, and 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesdays – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.
The Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal World are special to our EWTN viewers. During the Year of Faith, we will air weekly reflections by Fathers Patrick, Leonard and Mark and Deacons John Paul and Pascal. These two-minute television spots – a new one each week – which will be shown throughout the day as well as on our soon-to-be-unveiled Year of Faith website. Watch for them; they will help you live the faith more deeply! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.
Concerned about countries – including the United States --where Christianity was once dominant but has seen a dramatic drop? Then tune into “Vaticano,” EWTN’s weekly news magazine. The show will kick off the year with special interviews with various bishops attending the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. The Synod is "aimed primarily at Europe and North America,” where the influence of Christianity has waned. Airs 10 a.m. ET, Sundays, 11 p.m. ET Mondays, and 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesdays – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.
During the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict is asking us to read the documents of Vatican II. Intimidated? Think it’s either too hard or too boring to be bothered? Then, tune in to “Council of Faith,” an EWTN Original Series. We’ll spoon feed you all you need to know – and it won’t be boring! Each program in the series features a different document. Airs 6 a.m. ET, Monday through Saturday (except Thursday, Oct. 11), beginning Saturday, Oct. 6 and ending Wednesday, Oct. 24. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

Why does Pope Benedict want the faithful to read the documents of Vatican II during the Year of Faith? What’s so important about them? Find out in the EWTN special, “A Day at the Council.” Airs at 5:30 a.m. ET and 5:30 p.m. ET, Thursday, Oct. 11 – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.
EWTN Rome Bureau Chief posts a new blog every day with the most inside information available. During the “Year of Faith,” you will not want to miss her insightful reporting!

Find “Joan’s Rome” at http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blog_ID=1. You also don’t want to miss Joan’s radio program, “Vatican Insider,” which airs at 9:30 a.m. ET, Saturdays on the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network. (Find an EWTN affiliate near you at http://www.ewtn.com/radio/amfm.asp, listen to EWTN’s Sirius Satellite Channel #130, or listen live online – just go to http://www.ewtn.com/radio/amfm.asp, click on “Radio” at the top of the web page, and then “Listen Live” in the drop down menu, and “EWTN Radio” (English) in the sub-menu.)
It’s sensational! The Trial of Pope Benedict’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, has begun and no one is covering it better than EWTN Bureau Chief Joan Lewis. Read her blog, “Joan’s Rome,” now at http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blog_ID=1, with the headline: “Gabrielle: ‘I’m Guilty Only of Betraying the Holy Father’s Trust.’”
Listen for Year of Faith updates wherever you are on EWTN Global Catholic Radio. For a schedule of the many radio shows that will cover the Year of Faith, click on http://www.ewtn.com/radio/index.asp. These include “Women of Grace” with Johnnette Benkovic, “Catholic Connection” with Teresa Tomeo, “Son Rise Morning Show with Brian Patrick,” “EWTN Open Line,” “At Home with Jim & Joy,” and many others. Find an EWTN affiliate near you at http://www.ewtn.com/radio/amfm.asp, listen to EWTN’s Sirius Satellite Channel #130, or listen live online – just go to http://www.ewtn.com/radio/amfm.asp, click on “Radio” at the top of the web page, and then “Listen Live” in the drop down menu, and “EWTN Radio” (English) or Radio Católica Mundial (Spanish) in the sub-menu.
Coming soon! Two new EWTN websites: Our Online Services Department is hard at work building two new websites with everything you need to know about the Year of Faith and Vatican II. We will let you know when they go live!
Concerned about the rise of militant secularism? So is Pope Benedict XVI. But, as EWTN Blogger Joanna Bogle notes in her latest blog, “A Catholic Journalist in London,” there is hope. “Across Europe, the tide of militant secularism is rising, and we will have to be strong to withstand it. But the Church will be there when the waters surge and swirl and people get caught up in them, and lives are wrecked and misery caused. The Church will be the place of hope, the voice of sanity, the bashed and battered but surviving raft of safety. People are going to be – as Pope Benedict has noted – terribly, terribly lonely. In a culture without strong families, with transient relationships that end up going nowhere, in consumerism almost sickening in its intensity, there will be a deadly sense of hopelessness. Without drama, without great announcements, without armies and flags and trumpets, the Christian presence and message of love will be the thing that saves...and whether that presence will be there depends on our courage and faith every day.” Read more here: http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blog_ID=4.