November 12, 2009 - 50th Anniversary Mass for America's Largest Church Celebrated on CatholicTV

The National Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. will celebrate the closing of its Jubilee Year, as it did the dedication in 1959, with a Triduum, “three day”, celebration. This will begin on Thursday, November 19th with the Plenary Mass of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at 5PM EST. This Mass will air live at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV. The chief celebrant will be Archbishop Donald Wuerl. Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, former director/rector of the Basilica from 1986-2005, will be the homilist.

Online viewers can click “Watch CatholicTV Live” in order to view the Mass which is available in full-screen at CatholicTV.com.

CatholicTV is a nationally-broadcasted television network headquartered near Boston. CatholicTV streams its broadcast simultaneously, 24 hours a day at www.CatholicTV.com

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, will play a special role at the Mass, reading the letter from Pope John XXIII addressed to the bishops of the United States (read then by the Most Reverend Egidio Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate to the United States) on the occasion of the dedication of the National Shrine on November 20, 1959. Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, will concelebrate the Mass with over 40 other bishops from across the United States.

CatholicTV produced an original mini-series inside of the National Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception starring Archbishop Donald Wuerl in 2009. In this mini-series, Archbishop Wuerl discusses the Rosary, using the beautiful mosaics of the Basilica to illustrate his points. This series can be viewed free of charge now by visiting http://www.catholictv.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=17

About CatholicTV: CatholicTV provides family-friendly, religious, news, and educational programming 24 hours daily. Founded over 50 years ago, CatholicTV is available in selected areas on cable in the United States and Canada, via Sky Angel and online via a live stream anytime, everywhere at the station's web site www.CatholicTV.com. Father Robert Reed, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, is the Director of CatholicTV. Click here to paste this into your browser to find out how to watch CatholicTV where you live: http://www.CatholicTV.org/schedule/where-to-watch.aspx