Catholic Media Journal

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Washington today, and so did our Franciscan University of Steubenville Media crew. There are 12 of us, and after a late departure from Steubenville – I had to switch to another rental van because of mechanical difficulties – we arrived at the site of our first video story: The John Paul II Cultural Center near the Basicilla Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. We jumped out of the vans, got our video equipment unpacked and recorded wonderful interviews with the leaders of the John Paul II Cultural Center, and were taken on a guided tour of the path and stops Pope Benedict will take Thursday evening when he leads an Interfaith Dialogue with many religious leaders. The Center is truly an amazing place.

As we videotaped our footage, a crew from Cox Communications, owners of the NBC affiliate TV station in Steubenville, videotaped us and recorded interviews with the students. Their story appeared on the 11:00 news in Steubenville tonight, although I couldn’t view it online.

Members of the team will be blogging about our project this week at Franciscan Papal Initiative, so check there for some of our experiences. We won’t have regular Internet access, but through the students’ gadgets I hope we can post from the midst of Pope Benedict’s visit to the USA.