Catholic TV (Pakistan)

Last updated

Catholic TV (Pakistan)
CountryPakistan
HeadquartersLahore
Programming
Language(s)Urdu
Ownership
OwnerArchdiocese of Lahore
Sister channelsYouTube channel of Radio Veritas Asia Urdu Service
History
Founded2009
FounderFather Morris Jalal
Closed22 September 2016
Replaced byYoutube and Facebook
Former namesGood News Catholic TV
Availability
Streaming media
Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9fTiDS-PlfeolufeG6HBMQ
Facebook channel https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/TV-Channel/Catholic-TV-Pakistan-457587067957290/

Good News Catholic TV was established in 2009 and was the first Catholic television broadcast channel in Pakistan. [1] [2] The cable channel and other Christian broadcasts were banned by the government of Pakistan in 2016. Good News Catholic TV continues on via a website with videos.

Contents

The introduction of Catholic TV supported the church's evangelisation efforts through the media, supplementing the Urdu service of Radio Veritas Asia. Radio Veritas has been broadcasting an Urdu service for Pakistan and India since 14 August 1987. [3]

It was started by Father Morris Jalal, who visited families and attended church functions in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore carrying a video camera to document the community's life for the first Catholic TV channel in Pakistan. The founder and executive director of Catholic TV made the service available round-the-clock on a local cable channel.[ citation needed ]

Programming includes Christian films, documentaries on church activities, talk shows, interviews, holy songs, rosary recitation, Bible quiz competitions and live Sunday Mass.[ citation needed ]

The program was broadcast in a radius of 10 kilometers from the central Lahore compound of St. Francis Parish, an area in which an estimated 8,000 Catholic families live. The government's media regulatory body has not approved a permit for any Christian radio, TV or news service, and state-owned Pakistan Television grants Christians only two 30-minute slots a year for Christmas and Easter programs. [4]

Catholic communicators have found their way around Pakistani unwillingness to give airspace to the Church, taking advantage of cable and Internet to broadcast their message. The first Catholic TV channels in Pakistan have been endorsed by Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, president of the National Center for Social Communications. [5]

The country’s first Catholic television channel celebrated its first anniversary by honoring its anchors, all of them volunteers. More than 500 people gathered for the 28 April 2010 program at St. Francis Church in Lahore. Catholic TV, a round-the-clock local cable service, has expanded to include shows on human rights abuses, current affairs, Christian personalities and programs about the lifestyle of clergy. Catholic TV is totally funded by local Catholics. Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Francis Shah of Lahore who spoke at the event said that such media are necessary to strengthen peoples’ faith. [6]

An order issued by the government Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority on 22 September 2016, declared 11 Christian television channels broadcasting in Pakistan in Urdu, including Catholic TV, as illegal. [7] Jasber Ashiq, director of Catholic TV, said they had had to look to alternatives like Facebook and YouTube to stream programs. [8]

In 2019, Catholic TV has expanded to three dioceses: Lahore, Hyderabad and Faisalabad. It is estimated to have around half a million viewers in Lahore alone. In August 2019 it is showcasing Rising Stars, a song competition that made its debut in 2010, becoming Pakistan’s first TV talent show for Christian youths aged 15 to 20. [9]

During the 2020 pandemic, Catholic TV provided daily live streaming of the Mass from the Archbishop's house in Lahore. An estimated 6,000 people watched the Mass while churches remain closed. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Daughters of St. Paul, also known as the Media Nuns, are an international Catholic religious congregation of consecrated women founded in 1915 in Italy.

Radio Veritas Asia is the non-commercial Catholic shortwave station broadcasting to Asia. It is based in Quezon City, Philippines, and is owned by the Philippine Radio Educational and Information Center, which previously owned the original Radio Veritas from 1969 to 1991. Its Urdu Service started its broadcast on August 14, 1987, in Lahore, Pakistan. Its mission is to promote justice to the oppressed through programs with specific moral, religious and inspirational content, and to voice peace and harmony among the sects, races, and sexes through sociocultural programs and to promote dialogue among different religions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Pakistan

The Archdiocese of Karachi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Pakistan. It was erected on 20 May 1948 under as a then-suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay.

The Christ the King Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Karachi, Pakistan; located in adjacent to the Portiuncula Friary. In its early years most of the faculty were provided by the Franciscans. It has been described as "the pioneering theological institution for the Catholic Church in Pakistan."

Lawrence John Saldanha is an Indian-born retired Pakistani archbishop. Born in Mangalore, India, he received his religious training at the Christ the King seminary in Karachi and was ordained a priest in Lahore, Pakistan on 16 January 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Pakistan

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lahore is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in Punjab province, Pakistan.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.

Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance history in Pakistan. It is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing poverty and injustice in the world.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta, originally the Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta, is a Latin Church missionary territory or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in Pakistan. It comprises the civil province of Balochistan and the Kachhi region of Punjab, Pakistan.

Agahi is a weekly published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi. It is the first such paper to be published in Urdu – the national language – not only in the diocese but in the whole country. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore publishes an Urdu-language newspaper called Catholic Naqib but this is a fortnightly publication.

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul is the main church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad, 250 kilometers south of Islamabad, Pakistan.

<i>Catholic Naqib</i>

The Catholic Naqib is the oldest Urdu-language Catholic magazine, founded in Lahore, Pakistan in 1929 by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore. It was originally published by Lahore Press and, since 1997, by Naqib Printing Press. Naqib (نقیب) is an Arabic name that means "herald" or "Proclaimer". The Naqib is one of the oldest magazines in the history of Pakistani journalism. It was founded by the Bishops of Pakistan in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Minor Seminary, Lahore</span>

St. Mary's Minor Seminary, Lahore, is the preparatory seminary in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore. It is the first minor seminary in the country, started by Belgian Capuchin Bishop Marcel Roger Buyse of Lahore in 1951. St. Mary's is now serving Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi dioceses, as well as the Capuchins and Franciscans.

St Paul’s Parish, Mehmoodabad Gate is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi. The parish is also home to a Catholic school and a home for young orphan girls run by the religious order of the Daughters of the Cross.

The Catholic Board of Education is the arm of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan responsible for education. Each diocese has its own board. Collectively the Catholic Church runs 534 schools, 8 colleges, and 7 technical institutes in its 2 archdioceses, 4 dioceses, and one Apostolic Prefecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Marian Shrine, Mariamabad</span>

The National Marian Shrine in Mariamabad, Sheikhupura District, Pakistan is a National Shrine, and since 1949, has been the site of an annual pilgrimage on September 8 for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary.

The Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference (PCBC) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Pakistan. Its objectives are to facilitate coordinated study and discussion of issues affecting the Church, and adoption of a common policy and effective action in all matters concerning the Church in Pakistan.

St. Francis High School, formerly known as Government St. Francis High School is a private Catholic school for boys, located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In spite of its name as a high school, the school delivers a primary and high school education.

Emmanuel Neno is a Pakistani Christian author and translator.

Francis Nadeem, OFM Cap. was a Capuchin Franciscan priest who worked in the Archdiocese of Lahore in Pakistan.

References

  1. ↑ "New Catholic TV station launches in Pakistan".
  2. ↑ "Focus - Catholic TV flourishes in face of danger". 9 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Agenzia Fides 2011-02-05". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Catholic channel broadcasts on cable TV". Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  5. ↑ "Catholic Word Getting Out In Pakistan". Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  6. ↑ UCANews 29 April 2010 Archived 4 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Agenzia Fides 10 October 2016
  8. ↑ "UCANews November 24, 2016". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  9. ↑ UCANews 1 August 2019
  10. ↑ La-Croix International 24 April 2020

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.