'Catholics Come Home' Launches Prime-Time Network Television Evangelization

By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/9/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Catholics Come Home shares the good news of the catholic Christian faith with the whole world

"Catholics Come Home" hopes to inspire one million to come home to local Catholic parishes. The bi-lingual Catholics Come Home commercials are scheduled to air on CBS, NBC, Univision, TBS, USA, TNT, CNN, FoxNews, and other networks during shows like 60 Minutes, NCIS, Kennedy Center Honors, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Jay Leno, O'Reilly, major sports, and highly rated sitcoms.

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ATLANTA, GA (Catholic Online) - I am a re-vert to the Catholic Church. I returned to the faith of my childhood after a search for truth as a young man. That search led me home to the fullness of truth which subsists within the Church into which I was baptized as a child.

As the years have passed my love for the Lord continues to grow. My greatest joy in life is to help others find Him and the fullness of His life lived within the Catholic Church. Over these years I have come to understand my own vocation as living in the heart of the Church for the sake of the world.

I am an evangelizer at heart. My service as a Deacon has been deeply involved in the New Evangelization.

Perhaps because I am a re-vert, I have often had the joy of sharing the Catholic faith with many "former" or "fallen away" Catholics. Helping them find their way home is one of my greatest joys. I have also had the joy of helping Christians from other communities come into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

I am certainly not alone in experiencing the joy of participating in the New Evangelization. One of its greatest advocates is a very gifted man named Tom Peterson.

I met Tom several years ago at a Catholic Leadership Conference. I had seen my first "Catholics Come Home" commercial months earlier and became immediately convinced that the work of this non-profit media apostolate was going to become one of the most important resources for the New Evangelization in my lifetime.

Anyone reading this article who has not yet seen a "Catholics Come Home" commercial should go to their outstanding interactive web site . Watch these beautifully produced commercials! Read about this fruitful New Evangelization Apostolate. Be encouraged in your own faith and find the courage to give it away to others. Learn to feel good again about being a Catholic Christian.

I recently received some very good news from Tom Peterson about the newest effort being undertaken by "Catholics Come Home" to share the good news of the Christian life as found in its fullness within the Catholic Church. Tom, who refers to himself as an "advertising guy...simple and not a scholar," has built "Catholics Come Home" into an evangelization effort which is unmatched in the Catholic Church today.

Like the little boy with the loaves and the fish in the Gospel account of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish (John 6), Tom Peterson has offered what he had and the miracle continues through the hands of Jesus Christ. This "advertising guy" is utilizing the best quality offered by the integrated media of our age to reach real people with the real hope they need in an age that has lost its soul.

"Catholics Come Home" has cooperated with thirty Dioceses and Archdioceses, the most recent of which is my childhood home of Boston, Massachusetts. It is led by Franciscan Archbishop, Sean Cardinal O'Malley. The Cardinal's enthusiasm since the campaign began speaks volumes, "we've made an outreach to inactive Catholics, launching several television commercials to invite our brothers and sisters home. It's for Catholics, who for whatever reason have stopped coming to church."

What has happened in Boston is happening everywhere these commercials air. Mass attendance has increased an average of 10 percent, and as much as 18 percent. The ads and the interactive website have reached 40 million viewers across the US and 1.5 million viewers worldwide 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.

"Catholics Come Home" recently announced a major, national, prime-time network television evangelization initiative, for the first time ever in the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church, to air from December 16, 2011 through January 8, 2012.

This invitation of the New Evangelization highlights the history, beauty, spirituality and accomplishments of the Catholic Church. The positive message will reach 250 million television viewers in over 10,000 U.S. cities and every diocese throughout the United States, airing over 400 times during the three week period spanning before Christmas through the Feast of the Epiphany, January 8, 2012.

"Catholics Come Home" hopes to inspire as many as one million souls to come home to local parishes. This evangelization goal is based on statistical census results from Catholics Come Home media initiatives that have aired in 30 past partner dioceses, ranging from Chicago to Seattle and Boston to Atlanta.

Where these ads have aired, Mass attendance has increased an average of 10%, and helped over 300,000 people home to the Church, just since 2008.

The bi-lingual Catholics Come Home commercials are scheduled to air on CBS, NBC, Univision, TBS, USA, TNT, CNN, FoxNews, and other networks during shows like 60 Minutes, NCIS, Kennedy Center Honors, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Jay Leno, O'Reilly, major sports, and highly rated sitcoms.

Viewers will be directed to their parish and will learn more at CatholicsComeHome.org or CatolicosRegresen.org (Spanish).

According to a recent CARA Catholic Poll (CCP), only 33% of U.S. Catholics attend weekly Mass. That means 42.7 million, or two-thirds of U.S. Catholics, are not going to Mass. The number of Americans identifying themselves as non-religious/secular increased 110% from 1990 to 2000, now 13.2% of the total population.

The average American spends 38 hours per week consuming media, with TV and internet being the top two choices. Mormons, Christian Scientists, and Atheists are now advertising.

"These inspiring messages are sponsored by 30,000 Catholic families who want to invite neighbors, relatives, and co-workers to the largest family reunion in modern history" said the Founder of "Catholics Come Home", Tom Peterson.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: new evangelization, catholics come home, reverts, converts, RCIA, Tom Peterson, Evangelism, catechetics

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1 - 10 of 15 Comments

Roy Schrett
1 year ago
Your intent appears to be genuine. Now,when you convince the parish priests and local bishops to cooperate, be understanding, place their personal agenda aside to concentrate on those who are disappointed and discouraged about the Roman Catholic church then and only then will you succeed.

Yours in Our Lord Jesus.
JoAnn
1 year ago
Bill Mader: Welcome home Brother. Grow in Faith and grace. God Bless.
Judy
1 year ago
Bill: I am Happy for your renewed Faith and Welcome you back my brother! Your message may be True for you, but certainly not all. I will not ask personal questions. Just inform you that it does make a difference at the length of time the priest was w/the child, their age, how long, and what a good story teller and manipulator he was. Not everyone had your experience. And yes, I agree, some probably do make excuses...but not All. I pray more like you renew their Faith and keep it. Blessings always...
Joseph
1 year ago
I am from Sri Lanka. We too are facing a similar issue of catholics leaving the church to other christian churches. Really like the way "cathoics come home" is operating. would like to start similar one in Sri Lanka.
Bill Mader
1 year ago
Newsflash to Catholic On-line: It is now November and the Holy Father has a new pair of intentions!

For those who think the sex abuse scandal is a primary cause, the truth is that is only an excuse. Those who fall away use it because they are unwilling to face their own lack of faith. I too used numerous excuses. Thank God, the Holy Spirit lead me back home! We must look internally, not externally, to learn why we become weak. Once done, through God's grace we can regain our faith, become strong again, and bring others with us as we give honor and glory to our Heavenly Father through His Son.

God bless, Bill
Judy
1 year ago
Michael raja sgl: Amen. eg: Agree. Abbey and mgm: I think you are Both right. One problem being those that were personally involved w/P. Priests. That is separate in my opinion. If one is not personally affected, it is merely a scandal to be forgiven. But to those involved, especially the Victims, I do not think we are in a place to judge. W/some, situations were minor. But not with others. Have you watched Criminal Minds? It is so much worse when this person is a priest. And have you ever entertained the thought, that perhaps the priest told them there was no God? These priests that did this, did a terrible terrible thing. They are responsible for a certain amount of some boys and their families, for not returning to the Catholic Church. The Church was too long in keeping their head in the sand. Some of these boys and families are so damaged because of what was done and/or said, that they will never be completely renewed, be wholly "normal" again. They have been first swayed away from God by their parish priest, Who told them at an impressionable age, either that it was okay w/God, or that there was no God. In some cases, this went on for years. Therefore, I will pray as I always have, for all parties. But Especially those who were so devastatingly offended. Who knows what they do or do not believe now? God Love them! God love our
Holy Church for all that it is doing in this area, now that she has awakened! And, may our Church welcome back as many as she can! Blessings always...
Larry
1 year ago
This is great news - I've seen Catholics Come Home as a way to explain and reexplain or reintroduce the beauty and depth of the Catholic Church to Catholics who've been away for many reasons over the years (I once read that the largest group of Christians in the USA are fallen away Catholics - stopped practicicing, changed churches, etc, besides Cathoics who have not fallen away). I this this is also a great platform to educate Practicing Catholics about what is at the basis of the faith and its richness. I still think we need ways to learn how to use our faith and spirituality in the world and do things as "Catholics", not just good people. We all struggle, and at the basis of life, struggle to survive and thrive is what we are trying to do. Our faith, spirituality with the help of the Catholic Church helps us transform life in the world. One more tool developing for Catholic presence in the world - I saw a video series on TV from Catholicismtv.com - explaining major beliefs of the Catholic church - is very good - there is a book, leader's materials, video, etc. for sale too - the more tools, the merrier!
michael raja sgl
1 year ago
Catholic church is created and established by jesus christ. The persons following the catholic may be sinners, but not the church. kindly the forgive us (the sinners) and kindly come back to show our solidarity in our faith to jesus christ. We are being grossly encroached by other, elites /educated by Hindus and Buddhist, Lower starta by the Islam and others by athiest. it is time, we should unite. There is no winner nor any loser; christ make all of us as winner
Mary42
1 year ago
mgm. please wake up and be realistic. The Catholic Church has had scandals since the betrayal of Judas!!! In any case we are called to pray for our fellow sinners, not to take their failings as an excuse to run away from our Mother Church. You do not abandon you home because one of your brothers or sister has gone bad, became a criminal and was jailed!!!!!
mgm.
1 year ago
Abey.Really! It's the Liberal's fault some Catholic's do'nt attend mass.I think the Church's big sex scandal that made head-lines beginding in the ninetys drove more Catholic's from the church then the Dems.

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