Finding Catholic programming for the whole family got easier in central Illinois last week when a video player called CatholicTVjr was added to the Web site of the Diocese of Peoria.

It can be launched by clicking on the link on the left side of the page, which is located at www.cdop.org.

The feature has more than 30 television programs. Each has several episodes and more content is being added all the time, according to Bonnie Rodgers, who is responsible for programming and marketing at CatholicTV.

“Most of it is ours, but we receive programs from other dioceses, too,” Rodgers told The Catholic Post by phone from her office in Watertown, Mass. CatholicTV operates under the auspices of Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap., of the Archdiocese of Boston.

“On CatholicTVjr you’ll see any bishop who produces a program,” she said. “We’re part of the church, the Archdiocese of Boston, so the bishops are really good to us.”

CHRIS Kreps, who oversees the Diocese of Peoria’s Web site as part of his duties as vice chancellor, said Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, liked what he saw when he previewed CatholicTVjr and asked that it be made available.
“He was ecstatic about it,” Kreps told The Post, noting that this is “another outlet, another opportunity for evangelization.”

“Not everyone has cable TV and not everyone who has cable TV has access to EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network),” he said. “Now if you have access to the Internet you can get this for free. . . . It’s another way for people to get good, quality programming into their houses.”

UNDER “Cathedral Events,” for example, there is the memorial Mass that was celebrated in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Servant of God. There are also videos of the installations of bishops around the country, including that of Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, the former spiritual leader of the Diocese of Springfield.

Another programming block, “The Call,” includes videos submitted by religious communities, vocation directors and lay apostolates that encourage people to live out their vocations in the church, Rodgers said.

She added that Catholic families who are looking for support can find it by watching the stories of other Catholic families who are facing the same struggles and joys in “House+Home.”

“There is a real diversification in programming — educational, devotional and entertaining,” she said.