Featured News

CTND telecasts events of Church

By Robert Delaney
Of The Michigan Catholic
Published May 13, 2005

DETROIT — Catholics in southeast Michigan have been able to follow the momentous events in the life of the universal Church this spring thanks to special coverage provided by CTND, the Archdiocese of Detroit's cable TV channel.

The channel, available to the great majority of cable subscribers throughout metro Detroit and environs, is among the ministries funded by the Catholic Services Appeal, now under way in archdiocesan parishes.

Through its relationship with the Eternal Word Television Network and the television services of several other major dioceses, CTND provided extended coverage during the final days of Pope John Paul II.

And it supplemented current coverage with memories of happier days, rebroadcasting archival footage of Pope John Paul's 1987 visit to Detroit.

After his death, CTND crews sought reactions from people attending special services at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament and in Hamtramck. It covered the candlelight vigil at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Church the night before his funeral, and interviewed people at the site of the statue of John Paul II at Joseph Campau and Belmont.

"We focused on the relationship between Hamtramck and John Paul II. We try to affirm the local Catholic community as much as our resources allow, to show what is going on and get their comments," says John Quayle, supervising producer for the archdiocesan Office of Television.

As the local Church mourned the late pope, "we pretty much covered each significant gathering at the cathedral, and were present to help share the event with the larger community viewing at home," says Ken Kolb, the Office of Television's director.

Not having gone through a papal transition in more than a quarter of a century, even most life-long Catholics needed a refresher course on what happens when one pope dies and another is chosen. CTND and the other Catholic broadcasters with which it works were able to call on knowledgeable experts who were able to explain just what is involved in the calling of a conclave and the election of a new pontiff.

"We tried to give background and understanding of each event from the Catholic point of view," says Kolb.

And then, with the election of Pope Benedict XVI, CTND not only broadcast the events taking place in Rome, but had a crew at the historic German parish of St. Joseph in Detroit's Lafayette Park area for the German-language Mass the following Sunday.

Founded more than 20 years ago during Cardinal Edmund Szoka's time as archbishop of Detroit, CTND has served the Church in many ways, providing a Catholic presence on the television dial. Many of its programs have also be repackaged on videotape or DVDs for use in parish education programs.

Among those have been the Scripture series that have featured Msgr. John Zenz, moderator of the archdiocesan Curia. His next series of programs, "Living the Beatitudes," is set to air in late spring or early summer.

CTND's "Dialogue" program offers an opportunity for local print and broadcast reporters to discuss current issues with Cardinal Adam Maida, along with some special editions such as when Cardinal Szoka celebrated his jubilee last year.

Kolb says CTND is today reaching more people than ever. It is now available to about 900,000 households in and around metro Detroit, up from approximately 500,000 households 10 years ago. And he says CTND programming is now distributed more widely, both to other Catholic cable channels and for use in parish programs in other dioceses. Its budget is funded by the annual CSA, which provides the money needed to operate almost all archdiocesan ministries.