Article: "Catholic Website Drawing Thousands Back To Faith"
Sergio Perez
Phoenix, Apr 7, 2008 / 10:28 am (CNA [Catholic News
Agency]).- In less than three weeks, 3,000 Catholics
returned to the Church in the Diocese of Phoenix due
to the effort of a new lay apostolate,
CatholicsComeHome.org. The program consists of a
website and commercials aired on local television that
effectively portray the truth and goodness of the
Catholic Church.
In an interview with CNA, Catholics Come Home, Inc.
founder and president, Tom Peterson explained that the
ads are designed to take people to the website,
CatholicsComeHome.org, where they can find answers to
questions about Church teachings, and also to put them
into contact with their local parish to be led home,
back to the Catholic Church.
Prior to founding Catholics Come Home, Peterson worked
in advertising until he attended a retreat that
completely changed his life. It was then that he knew
God was calling him to use his advertising talents for
evangelization.
Years later, he was contacted by the Diocese of
Phoenix to help start a three-week campaign which was
launched last month. In Phoenix, the commercials were
aired on all major television networks and also ESPN,
Lifetime, FOX News and others.
After the first commercial campaign, not only did the
diocese report a marked increase in Mass attendance,
but over “31,000 unique visitors came to the website
from Phoenix and other US cities plus 60 foreign
countries, with questions, to look up Mass times, to
read information on marriage issues, to watch
testimonies or to order Matthew Kelly’s book,
‘Rediscovering Catholicism.’”
The commercials aired on television are produced by
CatholicsComeHome.org. Before airing the ads, two of
the clips, “Epic”, and “Movie,” were shown to a focus
group that consisted of former and practicing
Catholics, non Catholic Christians, as well as those
without any faith.
The feedback received from the group was outstanding.
Seventy-eight of the 100 participants had positive
responses to the ads. In another assessment, the
organization found that before watching the videos,
90% of the participants had negative impressions of
the Catholic Church. After viewing ads one time, 54%
had a much more favorable impression. Hearts and
minds were changed after viewing these creative and
inspired ads.
The first commercial, “Epic” portrays the history,
beauty, and spirituality of the Church that Jesus
started 2,000 years ago. Peterson mentioned that
“many people don’t realize the history of the Church.
They don’t realize that Peter – the Apostle from the
Bible – was the first Pope. They don’t realize the
vast accomplishments that the Church has made over the
centuries.”
“Epic” also effectively represents the universality of
the Church. The clip shows a Mexican fiesta, an
African Mass, a Tongan baptism, aid workers serving in
a Vietnamese jungle, among other scenes.
The reaction to the video has been overwhelmingly
positive. Viewers commented, “After seeing ‘Epic’, it
made me proud to be Catholic.” Priests have noted
that the video made them feel “re-invigorated about
their vocation.” The video also has touched former
Catholics who have said that the video showed the
truth about the Church – “truth that they haven’t seen
in decades.”
The second commercial, “Movie” has a different effect.
Peterson described the ad as mirroring the Book of
Revelation which states that we will give an account
of our lives at the end of time.
“Most people are brought to tears when they watch
“Movie,” said Peterson. It shows that though Jesus’
divine mercy, “no matter what we’ve done, we can
accept the mercy of Jesus who will help us create the
perfect ending to each of our lives.”
Not only have people enjoyed the video clips, but they
have also succeeded in bringing people back to the
Church. One woman, Angela, said that she became an
agnostic 20 years ago. After watching the video she
commented, “How is it that after seeing the commercial
one time, I go to the CatholicsComeHome.org website,
look up my local church and go home?”
The commercials encourage people to visit the site
which contains information for three groups of people:
Those who “used to be Catholic”, those who “are not
Catholic” and those who “are practicing Catholics.”
Peterson described the site saying, “The web site
provides answers to questions about Church teachings,
and why strong faith is important in today’s busy and
confusing world. The site also offers an overview of
the faith, with additional resources and a local
parish finder.”
The website also includes 26 short testimonial videos
– stories of why people left the Church and how they
began their journey back home. The stories are
representative of common reasons that people leave the
Church and the unique circumstances and call from God
that led them back to the Catholic faith.
CatholicsComeHome.org also has a Spanish site:
CatolicosRegresen.org. It is a goal of the
organization to launch its ministry worldwide once the
commercials are perfected and aired heavily on
national TV networks here in the United States first.
While CatholicsComeHome.org is still searching for
further funding and quality advisors, the organization
is hoping to take the information learned in the focus
groups and initial airings, and bring the commercials
to other dioceses next year.
When asked where these commercials will be broadcast,
Peterson stated, “On main network programs like during
American Idol, the evening news, and even the Super
Bowl. Imagine if we can do it, how our culture would
change for the better and God would be glorified.”
For more information, and to support this non-profit
charity, please visit CatholicsComeHome.org.
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