TV RETREAT: Phone callers pleased by show

For 90 minutes after each of the three TV programs, which ran April 10-12, viewers were able to call for follow-up information. Those who did included devout Catholics who appreciated seeing their Bishop and alienated Catholics who wanted to return to the Church.

The number of calls increased each night, from 34 after the first night, to 35 after the second night and 68 after the third night. (People can continue calling the toll-free line, 877-319-4950, with questions or comments.) Staffing the phones were representatives of various diocesan agencies.

Positive comments

"People were genuinely pleased and touched by the Bishop's words and the fact that he was on TV," she said. "Many called to order the tape and talk about how crucial what he said to them was. Most of the calls I got were either to order the tape or tell the Bishop how thrilled they were that he did it."

Some callers wanted to take their faith a step further after watching the Bishop. "I probably had one or two calls from people concerned about their spiritual development and how they could come back to the Church," Sister Kay said.

Questions

"The callers I got were complimenting the Bishop on how wonderful they thought it was, and they did have some specific questions," he said. "One person was interested in deepening her prayer life, and another person wanted to get a better sense of what the Bishop meant when he talked about surrendering our life to Jesus Christ.

"Everyone who called was very positive about it," Mr. Amico said. "To have the Bishop devote three evenings to the positive things the Church offers to people was very rewarding, and it was nice to hear people respond to that."

Early callers

"It was exciting because we all realized that everything was about to take place," she said. "The consensus was just overwhelmingly positive. It was very well received, and some of the callers wanted it repeated."

The Bishop's invitation to people with questions about the Church to call the toll-free line also made a difference, Sister Nola said. "That's a real moment of grace for those people who want to know more about the Roman Catholic Church. They indicated it was a real inspiration to them," she said.

Invited to call

"I thought people felt very free to call, and the Bishop gave them a nice invitation to do that. It reached people of different faiths who got a sense of the approachability of our Bishop and the openness of our Church," she said.

There were also viewers just calling to say how much they liked the TV retreat or asking how they could come back to the Church. "People were calling with positive comments about the retreat, to order the video, or to ask some questions," she said. "We had a request from someone who wanted to come back to the Church after being away for a while, and we made some referrals to different offices."

Plea for more

"I was amazed when the phones started ringing immediately," she said. "I think people almost needed permission or license to call about questions or resolving issues."

One non-Catholic viewer enjoyed the TV retreat so much that he was going to continue watching, contribute money to the Diocese, and encourage his Catholic friends to tune in.

(04-20-00) [[In-content Ad]]