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Pray with the Pope is a website that allows individuals and communities to dedicate prayer time in alignment with the monthly intentions of Pope Francis. To help spread awareness of this new tool, the Diocese of Brooklyn sponsored 300 young members of the Church to travel to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day 2013, where they passed out thousands of prayer medallions (below) to fellow attendees and encouraged them to schedule prayer time.

prayer medallions featuring Pope Francis

Find out more and schedule your own prayer time at praywiththepope.org.

Do Hollywood and independent filmmakers know that Catholics are the largest sector of their U.S. marketplace? Nearly 78 million Americans are Catholic, 25 percent of the U.S. population, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn thinks big with its movie review show REEL FAITH.

Friday, May 24 at 8 PM ET, New Evangelization Television (NET) premiers its fourth season of the weekly REEL FAITH movie review show. NET is a branch of DeSales Media Group, official media outreach of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

People around the world can tune-in by clicking the “Watch Now” button at NETNY.net; REEL FAITH airs on Cablevision
Channel 30 and Time Warner Cable Channel 97 in the New York metro area; and across the USA NET programs are on Verizon FiOS On Demand. To watch REEL FAITH on Verizon FiOS, select the “Religion” folder, then “NET Catholic.”

Dubbed the “Catholic Siskel and Ebert,” David DiCerto (former film critic for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting) and Steven Greydanus (film critic for the National Catholic Register and creator of DecentFilms.com) host REEL FAITH with the vision of spreading the Gospel message while encouraging greater film literacy.

The new season of REEL FAITH will feature a tribute to the late Roger Ebert, who greatly influenced both hosts.

CONTACT: Michael Geoghan
Producer, REEL FAITH
(718) 499-9705 or mgeoghan@desalesmedia.org

The Diocese of Brooklyn started its All Faces campaign in the spring of 2013 to send a welcoming message to Brooklynites who might see the Catholic church as stuffy or out of touch. Thanks to Stephen Colbert, the campaign’s message was able to reach a much larger audience.

The ads featured simple images and messages, and the one that got the most attention paired the words “The Original Hipster” with an image of Chuck Taylor-clad feet peeking out from under a Jesus-like robe. The ad was also covered by CNN.com, Time.com, the Daily News and many more outlets.

Here’s the clip from Colbert.

Merely days after Pope Benedict XVI criticized media for misrepresenting Vatican II, NET debuts its series VATICAN II: INSIDE THE COUNCIL. The 10-part series airs Thursdays at 8:30 PM ET.

CNA/EWTN reported that “Pope Benedict XVI said that many of the misinterpretations of the Second Vatican Council were caused by the media promoting its own version. ‘The world interpreted the council through the eyes of the media instead of seeing the true council of the fathers and their key vision of faith,’ said Pope Benedict at Paul VI Hall on Feb. 14. ‘Fifty years later, the strength of the real council has been revealed, and it is our task for the Year of Faith to bring the real Second Vatican Council to life,’ he told the priests gathered to meet him.”

Now NET’s VATICAN II: INSIDE THE COUNCIL focuses on the history of Vatican II to educate, enlighten and entertain viewers with a joyful, inspiring and faithful perspective. By examining the events leading up to this milestone, the council itself and how it has shaped the faith of people today, this fast-paced program includes commentary from experts around the world.

Shot in Rome, VATICAN II: INSIDE THE COUNCIL speaks to the “living history” of the event, profiling the council popes, but also celebrating the life of Benedict XVI, who served as a theological expert to the bishops at Vatican II, and had made the council’s themes central to his pontificate.

VATICAN II: INSIDE THE COUNCIL comes from the same team, including Amanda Melefsky, who produced the Catholic reality series Minor Revisions with Jennifer Fulwiler.

NET is a division of DeSales Media Group, media outreach of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn led by Bishop Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio.

New Yorkers can watch NET on Time Warner Channel 97 and Cablevision Channel 30. Viewers around the world can watch NET streaming online at NETNY.net. Across the USA, NET shows are on Verizon FiOS On Demand. To watch NET shows on Verizon FiOS, select the “Religion” folder, then “NET Catholic.”

NET also created InsideVaticanII.com, a special website with documentary photos, definitions of Church terms, Vatican II documents and much more.

CONTACT: Stefanie Gutierrez
Press Secretary, NET/Diocese of Brooklyn
(917) 587-2784 or
sgutierrez@desalesmedia.org