New York, NY. April 17, 2008. The National Catholic Register’s Pope2008.com web site is a top reference for information on the Pope’s upcoming visit, including a link in the New York Times Topics page, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN´s news page. USA Today mentioned Pope2008.com in an article on Catholic bloggers, and the web site also appeared in today´s St. Cloud Times and in Our Sunday Visitor.

Speaking of visitors, the site´s "hit numbers" have grown six-fold over the past two days, and continue growing, with a total of over 86,000 visits as of today.

Several Register reporters have commented on live radio on Sirius´ Catholic Channel with Gus Lloyd and Dr. Pia de Solenni, and segments are planned with Greg Popcak and Lino Rulli. Debra Denhart, creative marketing consultant for the Register and for Faith & Family Magazine, was also interviewed on Premier Christian Radio out of the UK. (Details about times and stations are listed below.)

According to Fr Owen Kearns, LC, the publisher of the Register, the Pope’s visit is an outstanding moment for us to give witness of our Catholic faith. “As a newspaper publisher, I look forward to a rare opportunity in the papal visit to America. Catholics in this country really do have an opportunity to seize the moment that we are in the spotlight to let the world know that what Pope Benedict said is true: “The Church is alive and the Church is young!”

Stay tuned to www.pope2008.com not only for up-to-date information and the full EWTN video coverage of the papal visit, but also for its confident proclamation of our Catholic identity in the world.

A Top Resource for Readers

The www.Pope2008.com web site is fully engaged, with Tim Drake’s ground-level blogs capturing the events as they unfold, with all of the details and anecdotes that come only from firsthand experience. Other Catholic newsmakers and communicators are taking note.

Amy Welborn told her readers, “Keep your eye on Pope2008.com. No one else is even approaching what Tim Drake is doing.”

Dr. Jim Coyle, Associate Professor of Communication Arts at Steubenville University said, “I think Tim’s intriguing breadth of material has allowed the Pope2008.com blog to not only give a reader a broad picture of the upcoming papal visit, but it is also very in-depth. Tim draws from many sources and condenses it into an unfiltered form in a very timely manner. I see it as an “information hub” in relation to the events surrounding the papal visit.”  

Dr. Coyle also stated, “A great strength of Pope2008.com is that Tim is not only reporting a wide range of information, he’s providing a context for the many facets of the US papal visit and World Youth Day in Australia. This is a great service to the reader.”

The immediacy of the Internet has allowed the National Catholic Register to break several stories using www.Pope2008.com. The new Register site was the first news source to verify Kelly Clarkson’s (“American Idol” winner) appearance at the youth festival. It was the first to break the news of Harry Connick Jr.’s appearance at “The Concert of Hope.”

Pope2008.com was the first site to provide the music list for the liturgical events in New York (which resulted in quite a conversation on The New Liturgical Movement blog), and was the first to provide a look at what the stage at Yankee Stadium and the youth festival at St. Joseph’s Seminary will look like.

Other news outlets are using Pope2008.com as their “go-to” source for information on the upcoming trip, including the New York Times, which references Pope2008.com in several major newspapers, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Our Sunday Visitor, and more.

Register Reporters on Catholic Radio

During these days of breaking news, several National Catholic Register editors and writers are on the Catholic Channel at the various events to provide live commentary.

Register editor and writer Tom Hoopes was on the air with Gus Lloyd, whose program “Seize the Day” is aired on weekdays from 6:00 – 8:00 a.m. and from 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

Tom Wehner, John Burger and Tim Drake will be talking with “The Catholic Guy” host, Lino Rulli, whose show airs weekdays from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. (EST).

Debra Denhardt, the Creative Marketing Consultant for the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family Magazine, was also interviewed on Premier Christian Radio out of the United Kingdom. The interview will air at 10:45pm (EST) on www.premier.org.uk.

Pope2008.com Providing EWTN’s Video Coverage Online

In addition, thanks to an agreement between the Eternal Word Television Network and the National Catholic Register, Pope2008.com will be providing EWTN’s wall-to-wall live, streaming video coverage of the Pope’s journey from touchdown to departure.

For additional information visit www.Pope2008.com or email Tim Drake at tdrake@tdrake.clearwire.net. Note: for those who like to plan ahead, the web site will also provide coverage for World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia this July.