CatholicTV Will Air Papal Visit of Rome Synagogue Amidst Controversy over Pope Pius XII

Synagogue of Rome

On January 17th, CatholicTV will air coverage of Pope Benedict’s visit to the Synagogue of Rome. CatholicTV will also air the Mass of the Baptism of the Lord from the Sistine Chapel on January 10th.

These events will both be viewable at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV where available at noon and rebroadcast at 8PM (Eastern). CatholicTV broadcasts across the US on Sky Angel channel 142 and select cable outlets. Information about where to watch CatholicTV in your area is available at http://www.CatholicTV.com/schedule/where-to-watch.aspx.

The Pope’s visit of the Synagogue of Rome has generated significant interest from the media and from Jewish and Catholic groups due to the Pope’s recent declaration of Pope Pius XII as Venerable.

On December 23rd, Catholic News Service reported that “Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said in a statement Dec. 23. Given Pope Benedict's respect for Jews, his signing of a decree of the "heroic virtues" of Pope Pius "should in no way be seen as a hostile act against the Jewish people," it said.”

Venerable Pope Pius XII

CatholicTV recently aired a documentary on Pope Pius XII called “A Hand of Peace: Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust” which details the papacy of Venerable Pope Pius XII.

Additionally, CatholicTV will broadcast “In Spite of Darkness”, a film by Father Christof Wolf S.J., of Loyola Productions Munich, Germany. The film, winner of the Redemptive Storyteller Award 2008 , shares the experience of an interfaith retreat which is held at the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Poland, where more than 1 million people, nearly all of them European Jews, were exterminated by the Nazis. The retreat participants include, a Rabbi, an atheist, and a Catholic priest—and how they come face to face not only with their own vulnerabilities and complicity but with new strength, peace, and glimmers of hope.

CatholicTV regularly airs Papal and Vatican events: More information can be found at http://www.CatholicTV.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=57

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