CATHOLIC TELEVISION: MUCH INITIATIVE, FEW RESOURCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 20, 2006 (VIS) - Archbishop John P. Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, today participated in the second meeting of the organizational committee for the World Congress on Catholic Television. The committee meeting was held in the Vatican's Palazzo San Carlo.

  In his speech to the committee the archbishop recalled that, although there are many "Catholic television initiatives, there are often insufficient resources in programming, finance or trained personnel to keep them all in operation.    One of the factors that seem to be missing is coordination and, indeed, cooperation."

  The archbishop went on: "Because of the nature of our universal responsibility as the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, we thought it might be a good idea to respond to requests from around the world to be a forum for planning and, indeed, helping to implement such coordination and cooperation. ... In no field more than broadcasting and telecasting is there more need for networking: networking so that common programming can be offered throughout the world, networking so that training facilities can be offered on an international basis, networking so that ideas and programs can be shared."

  "May our planning and our eventual congress help Catholic television to be a type of nervous system for the Church," the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications concluded, "a system which helps to inform, to energize ... the Church to an ever more perfect unity and to the continuing work of evangelization."
CON-CS/TELEVISION CONGRESS/FOLEY                VIS 20060120 (260)