Watch the newest edition of

Church Alive!

Thurs. July 28at 8:30 p.m.

Channel 32 WLAE

Thurs. August 4at 8:30 p.m . and
Suns. July 31 & August 7 at 7 p.m.

This show features: (Filming at St. Jane De Chantal in Abita Springs)

• Sending of Case for beatification of Henriette Delille to Rome, by Jeanette De Melo
• Archbishop Hughes speaks on Charity
• Gert Town youth tour colleges by Chrishelle Norton-Colgan
• Sports Profile: Coach Fermin Simms by Doug Greengard

Also watch Church Alive In-depth on Stem Cell Research
Sunday August 31 at 9:30 p.m.

Jeanette De Melo, Associate Director of Communications
E-Mail:  communications@archdiocese-no.org 
Fax Number: 504 596-3020

Or you may snail mail requests for story coverage to:

Archdiocese of New Orleans
Office of Communications
1000 Howard Avenue, Suite 400
New Orleans  LA  70113

Background of "The Church Alive"

Prior to moving to New Orleans, Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes called a meeting between WLAE-TV and the Clarion Herald in order to request a television show be made.  He feels TV is a great evangelization tool and he wanted the show to be a relationship between WLAE and the Clarion Herald {the Official Catholic Newspaper for the Archdiocese of New Orleans}. 

There were many meetings back and forth between the groups to figure out the type of show to broadcast to the people in the Archdiocese.  Archbishop Hughes knew he did not want a show about himself, but rather a show about the people, places, events, etc. in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.  While he was serving in Baton Rouge, Archbishop Hughes had a TV show there, but he wanted this one to be different. 

After months of discussion back and forth, they came up with the show they have now.  It was important for Archbishop Hughes to be in direct contact and involved with the people, so that is why each show contains "Archbishop Hughes' Message" at the beginning and "Ask Archbishop Hughes" at the end of the show.  These segments try to show the more human dimension of the Archbishop.  It was also agreed that his "Message" in the show would follow his biweekly column in the Clarion Herald in order to reinforce the relationship between the two media outlets. 

The first program aired on Thursday, November 21, 2002, which was over a year after initial discussions.  A new show premiers every other Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and then rebroadcasts the following two Sundays at 7:00 p.m. and the following Thursday at 8:30 p.m.  In addition to Archbishop Hughes' two segments, the show contains a Parish/Parishioner/Priest spotlight, a Community Programs Feature, a Youth Feature, a Spiritual Fitness Segment by Danny Abramowicz, a Historical Moment in our Archdiocese, the Archbishop's upcoming calendar and a calendar of events in the Archdiocese.

Your story ideas are most welcomed as well as questions for Archbishop Hughes' "Ask Archbishop Hughes" segment.

You may send your ideas and/or questions to Fr. William Maestri, Director of Communications and Executive Producer of "The Church Alive" via email or fax:  communications@archdiocese-no.org or 504 596-3020.  If you have any questions, feel free to call the Communications Office at 504 596-3023.