April 15, 2008

USCCB to Stream Papal Visit Events Live on the Web

WASHINGTON D.C. — The special Website (uspapalvisit.org) created by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for Pope Benedict XVI’s April 15-20 visit to the United States will live stream the events.

From the pope’s arrival at Andrews Air Force Base to his departure from New York, uspapalvisit.org will have the events live. The events will have commentators, guests and live phone-in interviews from U.S. bishops and others. The events also will be packaged for viewing at anytime. Coverage of events will start 15 minutes ahead of time. Check the site for actual times.

“It’s a major event and for some a once-in-a-lifetime event. We want to make sure everyone gets a chance to experience it,” said Joe Larson, director of Digital Media for the USCCB. The newly formed Office of Digital Media handles the Web presence for the USCCB and its affiliates along with video and audio production.

Larson added, “We look to bring the Holy Father’s visit to your computer at the workplace during lunch, at school, at church or in the home. And with the on demand video, if you miss an event live you can view the video at your leisure.”

The Web site is full of information such as the papal itinerary, facts and figures on the Church in the United States, biographical information on Pope Benedict XVI and stories of the papal visit. There is also a great selection of multimedia files including the pope’s video-message to the U.S., Cardinal Edward Egan’s walk-through of the New York itinerary and Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl and others welcoming the pope to the United States.

The first videos to premiere on the site were the finalists in a “Papal Video Contest,” sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington and open to Catholic youth from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Among the other features on the U.S. Papal Visit Web site is a blog, giving an inside view of papal visit preparations, views from the pew and reflections on the meaning of the visit.

The www.uspapalvisit.org Web site is made possible by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ and by donations of parishioners across the United States to the annual Catholic Communication Campaign collection, which provides funding for a variety of Catholic media efforts.

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