40 people from 15 countries participated in the EWTN Affiliates And Partners European Meeting. The meeting took place in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Poland on August 26-29.
– I always come back from EWTN European meetings with new inspirations for my television – Ksenija Abramović, the founder and director of the only Catholic television in Croatia, received on satellite in the Balkans as Laudato TV.
– During the meetings I learn about unknown saints and new places that are worth talking about on television. I get in touch with specialists in other countries who I can use if necessary – Alexej Gotovskiy, a producer at the Vatican’s EWTN.
– Together we can do more – adds Ulf Silfverling, who has been creating EWTN Nordic for several years, talking about how during the meetings professionals from different countries share their knowledge and skills.
The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki gave his greetings and blessings in a special video. Workshops and conferences are conducted, among others, by Monsignor Tomasz Trafny, Deputy Director of the Department of the Pontifical board of cultural affairs from the Vatican. He spoke about cooperation with the Vatican’s department of culture and about the Holy See’s undertakings at the EXPO in China and the United Arab Emirates.
Father Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, director of the KEP Foreign Communication Office, shared his experience about the cooperation of the media with episcopal conferences. There were also lectures by guests from various branches of EWTN and partner television stations, including those from Germany, the Netherlands, Rome, and Poland, who presented modern technical solutions for the media. Ksenija Abramović talked about the difficult way of building a Catholic media and the consequent success of Laudato TV. EWTN specialists from Poland, Germany, and the international office at the Vatican carried out technical workshops. The workshop-conference meeting was closed by Iwo Bender, Director-Coordinator of EWTN Global Catholic Network for Europe, and Father Piotr Wiśniowski, General Director of EWTN Poland and Piotr Pietrus, President.
Guests from the Eternal Word Television Network prayed daily at the Eucharist. On Thursday, in the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II in Krakow, where the Mass was celebrated, the homily was delivered by Father Leszek Gęsiak SJ, the spokesman of the Polish Episcopal Conference. On Friday, Mass was presided over by Bishop Andrzej Siemieniewski, Bishop of Legnica, at the Chapel of the Miraculous Picture of Merciful Jesus and the Tomb of St. Faustyna Kowalska in Kraków. On Saturday, in the basilica in Wadowice, the Eucharist was celebrated by Father Tomasz Trafny from the Vatican, and on Sunday, by Father Teofil Czarniak, the Provincial of the Immaculate Conception Province of the Franciscan Friars Minor – in the chapel of the sanctuary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.
This important event for the Catholic media in Europe was attended by the hospitable hosts of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska – Bernardine Fathers.
