Knoxville Bishop and Social Justice Ministry With Youth Highlighted on CatholicTV Talk Show

On April 1st, the Center for FaithJustice (CFJ) will be discussed on the live CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day”.

The CFJ is a unique ministry which assists in community service with youth and young adults, educates people about social justice, sponsors research on social justice, and much more. Widian Nicola from the CFJ will be interviewed on This is the Day.

An interview with Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville will also air on This is the Day. Bishop Stika heads a very young diocese which was founded in 1988. The diocese is also unique because of the rapid growth of its Hispanic Catholic population, which “if the estimates are correct and there are about 50,000 new Hispanic immigrants in the area, their number nearly doubles the area’s current official Catholic population.”

Bishop Stika considers Pope John Paul II his “episcopal grandfather” because the pope ordained Cardinal Rigali an archbishop in 1985, and the cardinal ordained Monsignor Stika a bishop. The bishop met John Paul II numerous times on trips to the Vatican. In February 2009 he visited Pope Benedict XVI to thank him personally for appointing him bishop of Knoxville.

Over 10,000 Sign Petition to Spread CatholicTV as Pope Calls on Church Leaders to Speak ‘New Language’ of Mass Media

Over 10,000 people have signed a petition used to encourage cable and satellite television providers to add CatholicTV to their channel line ups.

CatholicTV employees have travelled to conferences, retreats, and trade shows in many different states collecting names for its petition.

CatholicTV supporters recently made an impact in Worcester, Massachusetts, where dozens of attendees at a Catholic Men’s Conference signed letters requesting that CatholicTV be added to Charter Cable’s lineup. A few months later, CatholicTV was added to Charter Cable’s lineup.

Interestingly, the number of petition signers crossed 10,000 around the same time (March 1st) as Pope Benedict addressed participants of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

CatholicTV created its own social networking site, iCatholic.com in 2010. Since then, members have formed an online prayer community where they discuss their Catholic faith, and share pictures, stories, and videos.

CatholicTV originated as the world’s first diocesan television station in 1955. CatholicTV currently broadcasts on cable throughout New England, Detroit, Baton Rouge, and on Fi-TV in Chattanooga. CatholicTV also airs nationally on Sky Angel, and streams its broadcast online 24 hours per day at CatholicTV.com. Viewers may watch the online broadcast completely free of charge or obligation.

CatholicTV’s petition to help spread its broadcast reach can be signed online at http://www.CatholicTV.com/helpus

CatholicTV is also giving away Flip (portable camcorder) cameras to some petition signers in order to encourage more supporters to sign the petition. The most recent winner of a Flip camera was Karen M of Colorado.