Public television stations to air
documentary on Pope John Paul II

By Sean Gallagher

During the next two weeks, three public television stations that broadcast in the archdiocese will be airing “Witness to Hope,” a documentary on the life of the late Pope John Paul II.

The documentary, which is based on the best-selling biography by author and noted Catholic commentator George Weigel, will air at 4 p.m. on June 5 on Indianapolis-based station WFYI.

WFYI will intersperse in this broadcast a series of three interviews with Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein about the late pope. Archbishop Buechlein met with Pope John Paul at least once a year during the past several years.

Terre Haute’s public television station, WSIU, will broadcast the documentary starting at 7 p.m. on June 5 and will repeat it at 7 p.m. on June 8.

Public television station WPTD, based in Dayton, Ohio, will broadcast the documentary on June 6 at 8 p.m. ( EDT).

Public television stations that broadcast in other parts of the archdiocese were contacted and are not airing the documentary at this time.

Archbishop Buechlein said “ ‘Witness to Hope’ is an engaging review of the life, ministry and holiness of Pope John Paul II.”

Lloyd Wright, president and general manager of WFYI, said the station tries to add a local dimension to its programming whenever possible and hopes that viewers of “Witness to Hope” will learn about the late pope and the Catholic Church in Indiana.

“We always want people to learn,” Wright said. “We always want to be a center for discovery, and I think perhaps even the most devoted followers of Pope John Paul might learn something that they didn’t know before by watching the program. They might learn something about Archbishop Buechlein and the Catholic Church community here in central Indiana as well from the interviews.”

Weigel served as historical consultant for the program and provides an analysis of the pope’s life throughout the documentary. Several people who knew the pope when he was growing up in Poland were also interviewed for it.

Since its release in the summer of 2001, the documentary has been shown throughout the United States, Canada, Central America and Europe.

Over half of its two hours is dedicated to exploring the life of John Paul before his election to the papacy on Oct. 16, 1978.

Like the biography upon which it is based, the documentary seeks to help its viewers understand Pope John Paul “from the inside.” Instead of trying to analyze him through the history-making events in which he was involved, it tries to shed light on the events and on him through explanations of his core beliefs and how they were formed.

Wright said he was struck by the way in which Pope John Paul as a young man reacted to the wartime environment in which he lived in Poland.

“I was so taken with the program, but this was emphasized by the archbishop in our conversation,” he said. “Under circumstances like the ones faced by Pope John Paul, it might have been natural, it might have been easy, for someone to have ended up being an angry, bitter person. And the way that he used his circumstances to really grow and to be a witness to hope—it’s a really fascinating story.” †