---

The Catholic Communication Campaign collection will be taken up in parishes in the Albany Diocese the weekend of June 18-19.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops established the collection in 1979. In a pulpit letter to parishes, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard explained its purpose: "The [campaign], in partnership with our diocesan Communications Office, has been the Church's voice in the media: educating, entertaining, inspiring and informing the public about Gospel values. [It] plays an important role in our society. It merits our continued support."

In the Albany Diocese, half of the funds raised benefit the diocesan public information office, which promotes diocesan and Catholic Charities news.

Recently, for instance, the office promoted to local media a special celebration at St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, as well as the ordinations of three deacons and a priest and a utility bill assistance program sponsored by Catholic Charities.

It will soon report on parishes' charitable response to the victims of this spring's earthquake in Japan and tornadoes in the United States.

The goal, said Kenneth Goldfarb, communications director, is to ensure "that the Catholic community and the community at large has a better understanding of the good things that go on in this Diocese."

The collection also supports the Diocese's weekly televised Mass, "Table of the Lord," for homebound Catholics. The Diocese pays production and airtime fees to Fox 23, which records the show in its television studio and airs it Sundays at 6:30 a.m. Time Warner Cable channels rebroadcast it at different times as far away as Ilion and Oneonta.

Mr. Goldfarb oversees the show's production, a diocesan representative finds priests and congregants and volunteers help to coordinate the shoots. On Christmas and Easter, the Mass is celebrated by Bishop Hubbard and recorded at area churches.

Nationally, the CCC collection supports a host of projects and services, including:

• "For Your Marriage," a radio, television and web campaign to help people build stronger marriages;

• Radio Soleil Productions, a Haitian station that produces Catholic dramas in the local language;

• daily Scripture podcasts and video reflections;

• movie and TV reviews from a Catholic perspective;

• the websites of the USCCB and Catholic News Service, among other organizations;

• video projects exploring topics like vocations, faith sharing and faithful citizenship; and

• a documentary about Catholic nuns who lived under Soviet governments and their religious oppression after World War II in five Eastern European countries.

For more information or to view the USCCB's video projects, visit www.usccb.org/ccc/ projects.shtml.[[In-content Ad]]

---