December 20th, 2007

Catholic Underground First of Five New Podcasts to Join SQPN

12/20/2007 – 10:41 EST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

CONYERS, GA – In celebration of the remaining days of Advent, the Star Quest Production Network (SQPN.com) – the Internet’s most popular portal for Catholic podcasts – will be adding five new shows to their line-up of popular Catholic programming.

“We are rounding out our annual giving campaign that makes it possible for us to provide so many free and exciting Catholic programs on the Internet,” says Greg Willits, Chief Operations Officer of SQPN. “And as our way of thanking our listeners for their generosity, we felt this was a perfect time to start adding new shows, one a day, leading up to Christmas. It’s five days of Christmas presents for the Catholic podcast listening audience.”

Podcasts, which are similar to radio shows, are free, downloadable audio and video files that can be listened to or viewed on computers or portable media devices such as MP3 players, CD players, and iPods. This past year SQPN broke new ground with video productions such That Catholic Show, a popular new video series co-produced with Rosary Army (www.RosaryArmy.com).

“2008 will continue to bring new programs to SQPN, including new video podcasts and a new season of That Catholic Show,” says Fr. Roderick Vonhögen, founder of SQPN. “But we couldn’t wait until the new year to launch these new affiliate podcasts, so we’re announcing the first of five new programs today.”

The first new show being added to SQPN is Catholic Underground, hosted by Fr. Chris Decker (a priest for the Diocese of Baton Rouge), Fr. Ryan Humphries (a priest for the Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana), and Joshua LeBlanc (co-founder and president of cyberCatholics.com).

Following the success of several podcasts aimed at presenting weekly technology news and podcasts covering life in the Catholic sphere, the members of catholicunderground.com have created a podcast that speaks to both Vatican II and Pope John Paul the Great’s call for those in media to responsibly and courageously bring technology to the transmission of the Gospel.

“At catholicunderground.com, we’re amazed at how God is bringing about the new springtime of the Church through the use of technology,” says Fr. Decker. “SQPN has been a great resource for those who are discovering the Catholic faith or are re-discovering it after some time away. We’re proud to be part of that continuing mission and honored to join the SQPN extended family.”

Information and links to subscribe to Catholic Underground can be found at www.CatholicUnderground.com and www.sqpn.com.

Fr. Chris | Posted in news | 11 Comments »

  • http://ductapeguy.net Sean McGaughey

    Congratulations Gentlemen. CU will be in great company over at SQPN. So when will we have an announcement about CatholicCon? :)

  • http://www.catholichack.com Joe McClane

    Congrats CU!

    Didn’t think you would give in and make the leap… but I’m glad you did.

    God Bless
    Joe M
    The Catholic Hack!

  • http://earlychurchfathers.org/fullcircle Ggoose

    This is totally awesome! Keep up the great work.

  • Amanda

    Thats great news guys.

  • http://www.siministries.org Peter Mottola

    Hooray! Now more folks will tune in.

    And there was much rejoicing…

  • Roland

    Glad to hear this. I know Fr. Roderick has been raving about you guys for a long time.

    But I gotta ask, what caused the change of heart?

  • http://www.catholicunderground.com Father Chris

    Hey gang,

    Thanks for all the well wishing!

    Rightly understood, we’re designated as an affiliate of SQPN, which means that we’re featured on the SQPN homepage but we’re still quite independent. For instance, we don’t receive any funding from them, our podcast’s format remains the same, and we’re still free to pursue projects that may be in development in the cu labs.

    One of the main reasons that we’ve chosen to affiliate in a more formal way, more than simply tooting the proverbial horn as we pass each other in the bay, is that the common mission to bring our Catholic faith to an ever growing audience on the internet can only be strengthened by being listed with SQPN and other affiliated shows. Basically, there’s strength in numbers! Also, we recognize the high standard by which both catholicunderground.com and SQPN hold their production value and adherence to Christ and his Church; we see this as a good reason to formalize our relationship.

    So, we haven’t merged, we don’t get a check, and we only occasionally speak in Dutch accents :) . We do however join forces with a great team of podcasters, vidcasters, and most importantly Catholics!

  • Joe

    Great ! I started listening to you and SQPN – for balance sake. As a former seminarian, I really like the “banter” that goes on here.

  • http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester Jeff Miller

    Great news and about time.

    I remember suggesting to Fr. Roderick some months ago that your podcast would be a perfect fit for SQPN.

  • Roland

    I’m looking forward to the Dutch accents. Any word on the wooden shoes?

  • http://www.fiorghra.com fiorghra

    WOOT! Congratulations CU!