FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Daughters
of St. Paul announce
the release of
Media Apostle: The Father James Alberione
Story
A film about the priest who loved our media world
BOSTON, April 17, 2015 -- As a young man, James Alberione (1884–1971) was
kicked out of the seminary—in part because of his misuse of media—but he turned
himself around and went on to found a worldwide Catholic media empire and the
Pauline Family: 10 religious congregations and institutes of bishops, priests,
brothers, sisters, and laity in over 60 countries. Together these men and women
were to be St. Paul living today, doing what St. Paul would do if he
were alive: using, in Fr. Alberione’s
words, the "latest, most effective media to reach the greatest number of
people with the Gospel." Now this priest’s incredible story is told in the
90-minute documentary Media Apostle: The
Father James Alberione Story, available for purchase as a DVD or download/streaming
from Pauline Books & Media, the publishing house of the Daughters of St.
Paul.
Sr.
Helena Burns, a Daughter of St. Paul who was the writer and director for the film,
"fell in love" with Fr. Alberione when she was first discerning
religious life. "Finally! I
thought. A saint who really gets us
modern people and isn't afraid of technology or the future! I feel so
privileged to be telling his story."
Rob
Kaczmark of Spirit Juice Studios, director of photography for the film, was
thrilled to discover this media priest well known to Europe but less known to North America: "Alberione is truly a man of our
time, and his example serves as a real inspiration for the work we do each and
every day as a film studio."
The documentary was shot on location in northern Italy and in Rome, places familiar to Alberione, who began
the Pauline Family in 1914. The 90-minute film (which is available also in a
50-minute format on the same DVD) focuses on the life, media work, and media
spirituality of the man whom Pope John Paul II called “the first apostle of the
New Evangelization.” “Fr. Alberione was a prophet for our times,” said Sr. Burns.
“He intuited that the media would be tremendous gifts to use for
evangelization. Today we are constantly wired, plugged-in, constantly
communicating information, ideas, entertainment, inspiration—constantly
socializing through the media. Where is God in all this? Doesn’t a profoundly
media-oriented world need a profound media spirituality? Fr. Alberione had an
answer, and a vision. That is what the documentary hopes to share.”
Media Apostle: The Father
James Alberione Story is
now available from Pauline Books and Media: www.pauline.org,
800-876-4463. To watch the trailer and learn more about this very contemporary
saint: www.MediaApostle.com (DVD and
streaming/download can also be purchased through this website).
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