Catholics Come Home begins Advent 2012 campaigns

Atlanta, Ga., Dec 14, 2012 / 12:03 am MT (CNA).- The outreach organization Catholics Come Home has announced new campaigns for Advent and the Year of Faith while launching a revised website to encourage non-practicing Catholics to return to the Church.

“We hope that our updated website, Advent campaigns, and Year of Faith mini-campaigns will contribute to a greater revitalization of the Catholic Faith during this year in the Church,” Tom Peterson, founder and president of Catholics Come Home, said Dec. 13.

This Advent, the Georgia-based organization will launch its first full campaign outside the U.S. in Canada’s Archdiocese of Vancouver. Commercials will begin in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on Dec. 14.

Catholics Come Home has created special TV and radio “mini campaigns” for its original diocesan partners. Participants in these campaigns include the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Diocese of Colorado Springs and the Diocese of Venice, Fla.

The organization’s website has been revised to improve its design, make it easier to navigate, and include new content.

The website has sections for non-Catholics, Catholics who do not attend Mass, and those who are “proud to be Catholic.”

Last year, Catholics Come Home launched a major project to air evangelization commercials on U.S. television networks from mid-Advent to after Christmas. The English- and Spanish-language ads ran over 400 times.

The ad used in the campaign notes the beauty and history of the Catholic Church. It mentions Catholics’ traditions of prayer, help for the poor, and work in education.

“Guided by the Holy Spirit, we compiled the Bible,” it says, stating that the Church was “started by Jesus.”

The ad encourages viewers to “come home” to their parish.

Catholics Come Home began media campaigns in 2008. Its leaders cite an average 10 percent increase in Mass attendance in targeted markets as evidence of the campaign’s success.

The website for the organization is CatholicsComeHome.org.