Stay informed about Catholics Come Home!
“Pope Benedict said at his Wednesday general audience that the modern world needs ‘zealous’ disciples of Christ, who will fight religious indifference with the ‘light and beauty’ of the Gospel…”
Read more of this article from Catholic News Agency. 
Are you living as a zealous disciple of Christ? Is your witness of life bringing a light to the darkness of indifference in our world?
(March 15, 2011) Atlanta, GA—The notoriously anti-religious HBO talk show host, Bill Maher recently featured a three-minute segment on his “Real Time with Bill Maher” show, slamming Catholicism, and in particular Catholic priests, just as one-billion Catholics 
worldwide observe Ash Wednesday, the start of the forty-day Holy Season of Lent.
Maher specifically edited and perverted one of the highly-effective national commercials produced by the lay-Catholic charitable outreach organization, CatholicsComeHome.org.
In an effort to offer unwavering hope and peace to families during these troubled economic and conflict-driven times, nine Catholic dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Boston, are partnering with CatholicsComeHome.org to use television and the Internet to share the life-giving power of faith in God by inviting inactive Catholics home to the Church during the Lenten season. This initiative marks the 30th market launching the Catholics 
Come Home® evangelization initiative. These ads and interactive website have reached 40 million viewers across the US and 1.5 million viewers worldwide through CatholicsComeHome.org in the past three years. According to census statistics published by participating dioceses, Catholics Come Home® ads have helped more than 200,000 fallen away Catholics come home to the Church.
“This Lent, we’ve made an outreach to inactive Catholics…launching several television commercials to invite our brothers and sisters home,” said Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley. “It’s for Catholics, who for whatever reason have stopped coming to church.” Where these ads have aired, Mass attendance has increased an average of 10 percent, and as much as 18 percent.
But despite these gentle television invitations, Bill Maher continues to rant against all things Catholic, in an effort to “crucify” the Catholic Church by holding it up to continual ridicule and scorn. Maher inaccurately claims that the “Catholic Church made these ads.” False. The hierarchy of the Church did not produce these ads, CatholicsComeHome.org did. The television and website advertisements accessible at www.CatholicsComeHome.org were created and are supported by a group of Catholic families and individuals inspired by Pope John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelization.
Maher went on to ridicule the Catholic Church as comprised of only “white hair” geriatrics, when, in reality, Catholic parishes across the U.S., particularly in the South and 
Southwest, are experiencing an increased Mass attendance. Adrian, a young man in his 20’s from Colorado watched the CatholicsComeHome.org commercial called “Epic,” and wrote: “Months ago, I was an atheist trying to convert people out of the faith. I felt like God was personally calling me home.” Adrian and his family are now practicing Catholics and he is helping his younger brother to also return to the Catholic faith.
Maher also attempted to exploit the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis to cast a cloud of suspicion on all Catholic priests in particular and on the Catholic Church in general. While all sin is deplorable to God, Maher is grossly distorting the facts in the service of his “smear the Catholic Church” abuse information. The fact is, the national percentage of Catholic priests accused of abuse amounts to one half of one percent, according to Catholic Answers, “Understanding the Priests Scandal”. Protestant and secular experts have even cited surveys showing the actual abuse among Catholic clergy to be much lower than other denominations, as well as significantly lower than the general population (P. Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests; J. Could, “Pedophilia,” Time Magazine, April 2002).
Despite these statistics, the public typically only hears of the criminally unfaithful priests, rather than the tragedy of the overall abuse problem in our culture. CatholicsComeHome.org is on the record as proclaiming that the root cause of evil, such as sexual abuse, is human sinfulness and the abandonment of Jesus’s teachings of moral Truth.
Maher ignores the millions of faithful Catholics worldwide, as well as the 2,000 year history of the Church: starting hospitals, feeding the poor and caring for homeless, educating millions of young students, starting the university system, and contributing to the scientific method and laws of evidence. These are the truths of history that are often forgotten. He also fails to take into account the “faithful majority” of Catholics, literally thousands of holy priests and bishops, religious sisters, and lay ministers who have helped transform Western Civilization, often at the price of martyrdom. Despite the reports of scandal among some criminally unfaithful priests in past years, Catholicism continues to flourish.
Even so, Catholics Come Home desires to reach those who have not been to Mass in a while, or do not attend church regularly “Most say that they are not upset with the Church nor disagree with her teachings,” said Tom Peterson, president and founder of Catholics Come Home, “in fact, the vast majority, about 90 percent, are telling us that they just drifted away from their practice of faith due to many secular lures of the world.” When they are asked, “Why did you come home?” the majority of returnees answer, “Because you invited me.”
These television campaigns feature ads in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish, in the most popular programming like news, sports and prime time.
Even many Non-Catholics have praised the Catholics Come Home commercials. Debra, a Presbyterian from Charlotte, states, “I just saw your TV commercial and I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. It is so refreshing to see your religion in such a positive light.”
Peterson concludes with a plea: “So now is the time for faithful Catholics and all Christians to join together to pray for our troubled world, to follow the example of Jesus and to love our neighbor, and to invite Bill Maher, his viewers and others back to the practice of faith, back to a life of love, back to the healing and peace that always triumphs over evil, and only comes from God.”
CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks. EncouragePriests.org™ is a special communications outreach project of Catholics Come Home, Inc.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley Regularly Blogs About His Reflections and Experiences Throughout the Archdiocese of Boston. During the 40 Days of Lent, the Archdiocese of Boston is partnering to air CatholicsComeHome.org TV Commercials. Check-out the Excerpt Below from Cardinal Sean’s Latest Blog Entry, reflecting on Catholics Come Home®.
From Cardinal Sean’s Blog – March 11, 2011:
“As you all know, this past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the solemn and holy season of Lent.
Ash Wednesday is such an important day in the life of the Church. It’s a day when Catholics naturally gravitate towards the Church to receive their ashes and it’s an important symbol for the Catholic community.
This year the day was particularly special because we began our Catholics Come Home® initiative, which is an effort to welcome back members of our Catholic family who have drifted from the regular practice of faith.
We hope that this year the Catholics Come Home® program will help people who are on the periphery of the Church to become more involved in a life of faith and in our community.
We are so grateful for all the help that was given to us as a result of Evangelization Sunday, which we held in January. The second collection that was taken up at Masses that weekend allowed us to be able to present these wonderful commercials about the Church on television and radio in various languages, along with the trainings that have been done with parish leaders to welcome Catholics back to the Church.
We’re encouraging everyone to pray for this initiative and to take advantage of this holy season of Lent to invite people who have stepped away from the Church, who have no faith to be part of God’s family.
We launched the campaign with a press conference that included Tom Peterson, the president of the national Catholics Come Home® organization.
Tom Peterson
We also had representing the archdiocese Scot Landry, Janet Benestad, Father Richard Erikson and Father Paul Soper, from St. Albert’s in Weymouth.
We screened the commercials for the media and the audience.
I was very pleased that most local media participated and reported on the initiative.”
Read entire Blog Entry by Cardinal Sean O’Malley
Please keep all of the CCH Diocesan Partners that are airing Catholics Come Home® initiatives this Lent in your prayers. Please also remember in prayer all those who will receive this invitation “home” to Christ’s Catholic Church!
As we enter into the season of Lent today, nine Catholics Come Home® diocesan partner campaigns are launching. We ask you to please offer your prayers and fasting today for the intentions of the many souls who will receive an invitation to come “home” to their Catholic faith this Lent through the Catholics Come Home® commercials airing for the next seven 
weeks in the following partner dioceses:
Did You Miss EWTN’s The Journey Home This Past Monday Featuring Catholics Come Home®?
Good News – the show is now available to view on YouTube. See link below:
Thank you for your prayers and support which keep these messages of invitation airing in the mainstream media! We Are Catholic. Welcome Home.
Sincerely,
CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks. EncouragePriests.org™ is a special communications outreach project of Catholics Come Home, Inc.
“The Lenten period, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of which I am pleased to offer a specific word in order that it may be lived with due 
diligence. As she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface I of Lent)…”
Read the rest of his message here.
Did You Miss Tom Peterson, Catholics Come Home® Founder and President, on EWTN’s “The Journey Home” last night?
Catch the Encore Presentations at the times below on EWTN, or Streaming Online at the Same Time That The Encore is Airing:
The Journey Home with Marcus Grodi
Featuring Tom Peterson
Catholics Come Home® Founder and President.
Encore Presentations:
Thursday 3/10, 2pm ET
Saturday 3/12, 11pm ET
Be sure to tune in with your family!
Don’t have EWTN?- watch online during the scheduled show times:
Click here to WATCH Streaming Online during the show times above
“At the Wednesday general audience on March 2, Pope Benedict XVI discussed the life of St. Francis de Sales, a 17th century bishop and Doctor of the Church whose secret to holiness was his unreserved trust in God…”
Read the rest of this article from Catholic News Agency.
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(March 3, 2011) Atlanta, GA—Boston is no stranger to the challenges facing the world today: the fragile economy, high unemployment, rising cost of food and gas, and turmoil around the globe. In an effort to offer hope and peace to families during these troubled times in the world, the Archdiocese of Boston is turning to television, the Internet, and the power of God for the answers, by calling inactive Catholics home to the Church for Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season.
“This Lent, we’ve made an outreach to inactive Catholics … launching several television commercials to invite our brothers and sisters home,” said Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley. “It’s for Catholics, who for whatever reason have stopped coming to church.” Worldwide, nearly 70 percent of baptized Catholics do not attend Mass regularly.
A massive television blitz in Boston and in 8 other (arch)dioceses begins March 7th, the Monday before Ash Wednesday, using highly produced television messages developed by the Atlanta based non-profit Catholics Come Home, Inc.
Catholics Come Home® an independent Catholic apostolate, is the lay Catholic group behind the Lenten TV advertising initiatives in the Boston, Manchester, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Houma/Thibodaux, Erie, Winona and Venice, FL dioceses.
In the past two years, “millions of people have already seen ads like this in other parts of the country and more than 200,000 people have already come home,” added Cardinal O’Malley.
The TV outreach begins two days before Ash Wednesday, one of the highest attended holy days in the Catholic Church. Previous Catholics Come Home® initiatives have already aired in more than 20 dioceses from Chicago to Phoenix, Sacramento to Providence and Atlanta to Corpus Christi. These ads will have reached 40 million viewers by Easter. Where these ads have aired, Mass attendance has increased an average of 10%, and as much as 18%.
“Months ago, I was an atheist trying to convert people out of the faith,” said Adrian from Colorado who saw the Catholics Come Home® commercial called “Epic.” I “felt like God was personally calling me home.”
Television campaigns often feature ads in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish in the most popular programming like news, sports and Prime Time.
Portraying the spirituality and history of the Catholic Church, the television messages reach out to inactive Catholics and others; encouraging their return to the Church. The commercials direct the viewer to the www.CatholicsComeHome.org and www.CatolicosRegresen.org websites to explore answers to questions of faith and to utilize the site’s parish-finder feature to locate their local parish community and Mass times.
Many Non-Catholics have even praised the Catholics Come Home® commercials. Debra, a Presbyterian from Charlotte, states, “I just saw your TV commercial and I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. It is so refreshing to see your religion in such a positive light.”
The television and website advertisements accessible at www.CatholicsComeHome.org were created and are supported by a group of lay Catholic families and individuals inspired by Pope John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelization. Pope Benedict XVI has continued this mission stating, “People of the Church, especially lay Christians, are called to promote the Gospel values in an even greater outreach through the press, radio, television and Internet.”
Through TV and the website www.CatholicsComeHome.org, Christ’s message of love is communicated through a gentle invitation. “These messages are created and sponsored by lay Catholic families who have experienced a renewal of faith and who want to bring purpose and hope to other families across the country. The results are nothing short of miraculous, and people are finding a real source for peace and answers during these troubled times” said Founder and President, Tom Peterson.
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CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks. EncouragePriests.org™ is a special communications outreach project of Catholics Come Home, Inc.
Catholics Come Home® initiative kicks off on Ash Wednesday
Advertising campaign to include commercials on local TV stations until Easter
BOB REDDY
VENICE –
“An extraordinary undertaking” is how Bishop Frank J. Dewane describes Catholics Come Home®, a program of evangelization to welcome people to the Catholic Church. The program will kick off Ash Wednesday (March 9) with a regional media campaign and a wide variety of parishioners ready to welcome home inactive Catholics to their Church communities.
Bishop Dewane said, “During Lent … the Diocese of Venice is undertaking a dramatic initiative to invite and welcome back our brothers and sisters who have been away from the Church.”
This collaborative effort between the Diocese of Venice and nonprofit CatholicsComeHome.org incorporates compelling, professionally produced television commercials about the Catholic faith, airing on major television networks in the state, combined with parish programs preparing people to welcome those returning to or seeking information from the Catholic Church. A link on the Diocese home page (www.dioceseofvenice.org) has been created in support of parish efforts and to provide information to Catholics who are interested in coming home.
The commercials, created by the CatholicsComeHome.org, were developed with a particular emphasis on encouraging people to come back to the Catholic Church or to learning about the Church for the first time. The series of ads are set to air from March 7 through Easter Sunday (April 24), with the goal of reaching more than million viewers during that time.
The Diocese of Venice is divided into two media markets, therefore the ads will air on broadcast stations of ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Collier counties. For viewers in DeSoto, Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties the ads will air on ABC-7. The ads will also air on cable stations in Highlands, Hardee, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
In addition, Spanish language radio ads will air on WTLQ, Total La Ley and Total Super Q.
Catholics can get involved in the campaign in ways both financial and personal.
In summarizing the motivation for this campaign, Bishop Dewane put it simply: “We are doing this for one reason, to welcome our brothers and sisters in faith back home to the Catholic Church. If they have been away for a little while for any reason, we want to invite them to have another look and give us an opportunity to welcome them back. We miss them, and our faith community isn’t complete without them.”
In conjunction with the Catholics Come Home® initiative in the Diocese, each parish and mission will offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the Fridays of Lent from 5-7 p.m.; and again on the Saturdays of Lent from 9-11 a.m.
Also note that the Catholics Come Home® founder Tom Peterson will be speaking at Blessed Pope John XXIII Parish in Fort Myers on March 15 at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
Read entire Diocese of Venice article
Catholic Church Embraces Technology
By Tim Guidera
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) – You could describe the Catholic church as historic, unwavering and now, cutting edge.
Through the Catholics Come Home® campaign, the church has embraced television advertising and the internet to bring non-practicing Catholics back into the embrace of the church.
And they’re doing so as a strategy, a vocation and a duty.
“I think it’s wonderful because the church does remind us to use that type of technology,” said Father Jeremiah McCarthy, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Savannah. “I think many of the young people are into that. How else can we reach people?”
“Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, said recently, we have got to use this liturgy,” added Father Dan Firmin, of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. “We must use all these means to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The campaign will be rolled out in different cities across the country with polished, highly produced ads. But the means matter less than the message.
“I like Catholics Come Home®,” said Bishop J. Kevin Boland of the Catholic Diocese of Savannah. “I like to use that imagery that the father goes out to meet them, runs out to meet the prodigal coming home, puts a cape on his shoulder and says, come on, we’ll have a meal. That enriches all of us.”
And while the hope is that having people return to the religion they were raised in enriches lives, the church and everyone in it share a mutual benefit with every catholic that comes home.
“It nourishes the family,” said Bishop Boland. “You know what happens when there’s resolution, when there’s forgiveness and the prodigal son comes home.”
“We’re lesser when our family members aren’t with us,” added Father Firmin. “We miss them. And so to have them with us around the table of our lord to have them beside us in the pew, makes the life of the church so much fuller, the life of our family so much better.”
Read entire WTOC story and view WTOC news clip
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