Catholic Knights is the title sponsor of Living Our Faith with Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Dolan brothers to host
‘Living Our Faith’

November 15 Catholic Herald

By Cheri Perkins Mantz, Catholic Herald Staff

ST. FRANCIS — Beginning Dec. 1, Catholics in the Milwaukee Archdiocese and people throughout southeastern Wisconsin, can hear from Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan every Saturday morning, as he, along with his brother, local radio and TV personality Bob Dolan, host “Living Our Faith” a weekly 30-minute television show.

The show is part of the larger Living Our Faith evangelization campaign, which, according to its coordinators, encourages people to “meet Christ, know Christ and live Christ.” The archdiocese was not planning to incorporate a television show into its campaign, but those involved with the project agree that everything fell into place.

In spring, Bob Dolan met with Mike Stivoric, senior vice president of Catholic Knights Insurance, who suggested a television show that Catholic Knights could sponsor.

“Bob and I were brainstorming on some issues,” said Stivoric. “We were thinking of putting out a program for the archbishop’s fifth anniversary. We both decided that if we’re going to do something like that, let’s explore the possibility of putting the archbishop on TV for a longer period of time.”

Bob Dolan and his brother, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, take a break during the taping of “Living Our Faith,” a weekly TV show that debuts Dec. 1 and which is a key component in the archdiocese’s Living Our Faith evangelization effort. The taping took place Oct. 12 at the archbishop’s residence. (Catholic Herald photo by Jim Bovin)

Stivoric said that in 1982, Catholic Knights sponsored a television show called “Open Door” with Archbishop Rembert Weakland, but he noted that this show will be “substantially different” than “Open Door.”

When the idea for the “Living Our Faith” series was presented to the parties involved, including Archbishop Dolan and members of the archdiocese’s communications office, the idea was a hit.

“Over the years (the archbishop and I) joked about doing a show together, but it would be more of a sitcom and it would be cancelled real quick,” Bob laughed.

Each episode of “Living Our Faith” will feature four segments. It will begin with a guest interviewed by Bob and the archbishop, a feature story that usually involves some field reporting, an “Ask the Archbishop” segment where Archbishop Dolan answers questions submitted via e-mail, and closes with reflections by the archbishop.

Stivoric, a member of St. Anthony on the Lake Parish in Pewaukee, anticipates that the archbishop will do a great job on the show.

“I think the archbishop, being such a great archbishop, he can really articulate the message about the Catholic faith better than anyone I know,” said Stivoric. “The overall message — to more unite the Catholics in the Milwaukee archdiocese — is important.”

Bob said he gladly takes a second billing to his brother, by whose TV work he’s been impressed.

“He’s an absolute natural on TV,” said Bob. “It’s unbelievable. I’ve worked in TV 25 years with people who make a living at it, and he’s better than they are. He’s so good he makes me nervous. I’m supposed to be the pro here, but the guy sitting next to me is doing it better than me.”

Bob said he is confident that there will be a large number of people who will tune in to the show because of his brother.

“From my standpoint, I know people will watch it because people like to hear him and his message,” said Bob. “I think people of all faiths will tune in to hear his message. It’s broad enough for all faiths. It’s not just a Catholic show; it’s a community show.”

Guests for upcoming episodes include Fr. James Dokos, from the Greek Orthodox Church, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan. Guests are chosen by Archbishop Dolan and archdiocesan staff, including Kathleen Hohl, communications director; Jerry Topczewski, the archbishop’s chief of staff; Gail Kraig, a parish consultant; and Noreen Welte, director of the department for worship and pastoral services. The staff is also involved with other aspects of planning and producing the program.

The show is filmed in Archbishop Dolan’s living room, primarily to accommodate the archbishop’s schedule, according to Bob. He said the archbishop often works on other projects between takes.

The hardest part for many television shows is the budget, according to Bob. While Catholic Knights supplies funding for the majority of the show, the archdiocese is responsible for some costs, and Bob negotiated the cost of air time with WISN Channel 12, which is accessible in all 10 counties of the archdiocese, and had to sell commercial air time as well. The production staff also needs to be paid.

“The biggest challenge is making it work under this budget,” said Bob. “The guys taping it for us took a pay cut because they wanted to be part of the archbishop’s show. The people doing the feature stories said, ‘Sure, we’ll do it for half of what we normally charge’ because they wanted to be part of it.”

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Hohl said. “Our job has been to generate story ideas, to identify guests, to handle publicity for the program. You name it, we’ve done it; we’ve had to figure out a set at the archbishop’s house. We’ve taped three episodes so far. There is an absolute excitement and energy about it that I think is going to translate well when people watch it.”

Hohl said that though Catholic Knights is paying for most of the costs associated with the show, the archdiocese is covering some “incidental costs.” Bob Dolan estimated that it costs $1,500 for each episode.

“There’s a base cost for the filming and production of the show; above and beyond that, some shows will include what we call features and these are field reporting stories,” Hohl explained. “We hired a freelance reporter and photographer to film (a feature) so we are incurring some of those additional costs.”

Hohl said she and the other organizers of the Living Our Faith initiative are feeling positive that their new campaign can make a difference in people’s lives, and that it all starts with the TV show.

“There’s a building excitement about Living Our Faith,” she said. “We’ve continued to share this update of the project with people and they’re already excited. And we’re saying, ‘Wait until you see this television show, it’s going to knock your socks off.’ I want to knock their socks off. I want people to be proud to be Catholic. If I can ignite something in people who say, ‘I know I was missing something, I need to get back to Mass, I need to get back to my roots,’ then we’ve done our job. If it triggers someone that already is a regular Mass attendee and it helps them to live their faith more fully and richly, then we’ve done our job.

“If Mass attendance increases, that’s great,” Hohl continued. “But if even one person’s faith life is enriched, we’ve done our job. How do we measure that? It’s a leap of faith, you’ve got to leave some room in there for the Holy Spirit.”