Wait a minute! You if you reading this, you are already logged into one of the most popular Catholic websites on the planet! Throughout our history the Church has been at the forefront of social communications. There are several popular figures who come to mind just in the last century. In the 1950’s, Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s television show, “Life is Worth Living” was more popular than the Milton Berle. In 1952, Sheen won an Emmy for Most Outstanding Television Personality. Sheen continued to be on the airwaves in one way or another until 1968, garnering millions of viewers. Arguably, the most recent and most popular of Catholic media personality is Mother Angelica who founded the Eternal Word Television Network. While she has not been on the air for several years, the network she founded is reputed to be the largest religious media network in the world. By February, 2008, its programming reached more than 146 million homes in 127 countries and 16 territories on more than 5,200 cable systems, satellite and other systems. Of course our own Father Dave Dwyer is one of the many Catholic broadcasters on Sirius-XM’s Catholic Channel. You can hear some snips of that show at no charge by subscribing to his podcast and Fr. James Martin, SJ is a frequent contributor to The Colbert Report and other news outlets.
Its safe to say that in every age, the Church and its members will always use the latest communications technology to preach the Good News, whether it is radio, television, internet or other social media. Busted Halo and Googling God are two of the best examples.