Groundbreaking series on Catholicism to air on PBS this fall

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Groundbreaking series on Catholicism to air on PBS this fall
By Marianne Medlin

Fr. Robert Barron films the Catholicism Project on location in Florence, Italy

Denver, Colo., Aug 14, 2011 / 06:02 pm (CNA).- A high-definition series exploring the beauty and richness of Catholicism is set to air on over 80 public television stations across the U.S. this fall.

Fr. Robert Barron, head of Word on Fire media and the visionary behind the “Catholicism” series, told CNA his hope is that the films will be used “as a tool of evangelization for everybody.”

“I want the series to go out beyond the walls of the Church,” he said in an Aug. 10 interview. “That’s why we’re so happy it’s going to be on public television.”

Set in 50 locations in over 16 countries, the series examines major themes within the Church such as the person of Christ, the mystery of God, the Virgin Mary, Saints Peter and Paul, the “missionary thrust of the Church,” the liturgy and the Eucharist, prayer and spirituality and the saints, Fr. Barron said.

In the episode on the Virgin Mary, for instance, the crew traveled to the Holy Land, France, Mexico and “around the world to see where the Marian faith shows up.”

“The approach I used,” he said, “was just to go to places around the world that visually show the themes I’m talking about.”

Fr. Barron said that the series comes at time when the U.S. is going through what he believes to be “the darkest period in the history of the American Catholic Church,” and that the “wrong” people are telling the story of what the Church actually is.

catholicnewsagency.com/news/groundbreaking-series-on-catholicism-to-air-on-pbs-this-fall/
 
Well, let us hope that many fervent prayers have been answered! Although I’ve not heard of him before, some brief queries show Fr. Barron to be a very devout, charismatic fellow. I pray to God that this series will mark the beginning of a paradigm shift in the way the American public views the Church…though to be fair to the mainstream, these disgusting abuse scandals have tarnished our image abroad, as it were, just as much as they have sickened the Faithful.

As a side note, although it is a so-called ‘center-left’ entity so to speak, I find PBS usually is fairly non-biased when they do projects like this. Besides, much of the programming they have is really top-notch stuff, and does not cater to tabloid journalism at all.

I , for one, will be watching, praying, and crossing my fingers.
 
TevereNauta said:
Well, let us hope that many fervent prayers have been answered! Although I’ve not heard of him before, some brief queries show Fr. Barron to be a very devout, charismatic fellow. I pray to God that this series will mark the beginning of a paradigm shift in the way the American public views the Church…though to be fair to the mainstream, these disgusting abuse scandals have tarnished our image abroad, as it were, just as much as they have sickened the Faithful.

As a side note, although it is a so-called ‘center-left’ entity so to speak, I find PBS usually is fairly non-biased when they do projects like this. Besides, much of the programming they have is really top-notch stuff, and does not cater to tabloid journalism at all.

I , for one, will be watching, praying, and crossing my fingers.
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I discovered Father Robert Barron about six months ago and ordered one of his DVD’s on the Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues. His teaching was excellent, and beautiful artwork is shown during his talks. The group at church that I showed this DVD to liked it so much, they chipped in and purchased his DVD on the Eucharist, which is also excellent. He is a gifted teacher and is on youtube giving many excellent catholic oriented commentaries on things in the news.

I look forward to this series!
 
Dorothy said:
I discovered Father Robert Barron about six months ago and ordered one of his DVD’s on the Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues. His teaching was excellent, and beautiful artwork is shown during his talks. The group at church that I showed this DVD to liked it so much, they chipped in and purchased his DVD on the Eucharist, which is also excellent. He is a gifted teacher and is on youtube giving many excellent catholic oriented commentaries on things in the news.

I look forward to this series!
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I’m disappointed that the CNA article doesn’t mention dates or stations which will be airing Fr. Barron’s series. And I wonder if the stations will show all ten episodes, or only four?

I ask because a couple months ago, news was released that the Chicago public television station WTTW would air four of the ten episodes in October and make those four episodes available via satellite for other PBS stations which were interested.
catholicismseries.com/news/press-and-events/wttw-presents-u-s-broadcast-premiere-of-catholicism

Has anything changed since that earlier announcement? From the CNA article it sounds as if 80 stations have chosen to air the series, but I wonder if they have agreed to air it or simply that they have the option to air it. And it will be the entire series or just the four which WTTW has offered to distribute?
 
sedonaman said:
Isn’t PBS owned by NPR?
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Not sure.I think the American public owns it but NPR is beholden to no one.I have found PBS to have a certain balance as it cannot afford to alienate its contributors per their unending funding drives.
 
Chrysotom said:
Not sure.I think the American public owns it but NPR is beholden to no one.I have found PBS to have a certain balance as it cannot afford to alienate its contributors per their unending funding drives.
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Ever hear of the PBS “documentary” called “Stop the Church”? [google it with “KCET”]
 
I read the article too. Checked my local PBS station to see if it was scheduled (WFYI in Indianapolis) but couldn’t find anything. Maybe it’s too soon.

If anyone out there from the area knows about listings in Indy (or anywhere else for that matter) could you post it here?
 
i definitely plan to watch this series on Catholicism. they say 80 stations and there are 50 states so i hope there is a good chance for everyone to see the shows on PBS.
I haven’t seen yet when they will air and i am hoping we will hear more about the series as the airing gets closer.
i have not heard of this priest either, but i hope he does a good job of presenting the Catholic faith to the ordinary person and that it will be presented in a manner easy to follow and not too theologically intellectual if you know what i mean.
 
Nec5 said:
And why is it groundbreaking?
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well, i am going to turn 60 years old next year and i can’t say that i recall any series on Catholicism that was aired on tv. (other than EWTN) around Christmas and Easter there are the shows about Christianity, but to many people, Catholicism is still a mystery. hopefully, this will be an in depth and interesting series that will give the average person an introduction into what Catholicism is all about. they have filmed in various spots throughout the world and it is produced i believe by a priest so it is not going to be a show about Catholicism by anti-Catholics or someone with a liberal agenda.
 
7_Sorrows said:
… so it is not going to be a show about Catholicism by anti-Catholics or someone with a liberal agenda.
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If this is the case, then it would truly be “groundbreaking”. They did one called “Islam: Empire of Faith,” and it was a complete, politically corrrect whitewash.
 
sedonaman said:
If this is the case, then it would truly be “groundbreaking”. They did one called “Islam: Empire of Faith,” and it was a complete, politically corrrect whitewash.
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i can just imagine!! yes, thankfully, this series is done by a priest so i have hope that it will be good.
 
7_Sorrows said:
well, i am going to turn 60 years old next year and i can’t say that i recall any series on Catholicism that was aired on tv. …
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So you were born around 1952? You are probably too young to remember Bishop Fulton Sheen on radio and TV. His radio show ran between about 1930 until 1951 when he began his popular TV series “Life Is Worth Living” which ran until 1957, and “The Fulton Sheen Program,” from 1961 to 1968. You can still occasionally catch some of his episodes on EWTN. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Fulton_Sheen#Media_career
 
sedonaman said:
So you were born around 1952? You are probably too young to remember Bishop Fulton Sheen on radio and TV. His radio show ran between about 1930 until 1951 when he began his popular TV series “Life Is Worth Living” which ran until 1957, and “The Fulton Sheen Program,” from 1961 to 1968. You can still occasionally catch some of his episodes on EWTN. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Fulton_Sheen#Media_career
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I thought someone would bring up Bishop Sheen. You could hear a pin drop in our living room when he was on.

I have not encountered a replacement for Bishop Sheen but I would like to see Fr. Barron have a regular TV program; Life is Worth Living II or something like that. I think Fr. Barron is good and would represent the Church very well.
 
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