For Immediate Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information: AlberioneFilm@gmail.com

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).