CTSA leadership luncheon marks 25 years of Good News ‘on the air’

SAN ANTONIO • At the end of every year newscasters remind viewers of landmark events and the passing of notable personalities. This year, Catholic Television of San Antonio (CTSA) will reflect on 1981, the year it became the first archdiocesan-supported Catholic cable television station in the nation.

    Archbishop Emeritus Patrick F. Flores had the foresight to recognize the power of television in evangelization, a belief repeatedly emphasized by Pope John Paul II. The importance of the visual medium was affirmed by Lech Walesa, Time’s 1981 Man of the Year, when in response to a reporter questioning why communism fell, he said: “It all came from there,” while pointing to a nearby TV.

    CTSA premiered in San Antonio on November 21, 1981, the same year network TV broadcast Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, the launch of the first space shuttle and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

    Then-Father John W. Yanta was appointed the station’s first executive director and then- Father Lawrence Stuebben the program director. Together with a skeleton crew, $150,000 in equipment and a budget of $230,000, CTSA went on the air with 12 hours of programming.

    Today, the station broadcasts its own productions and EWTN programs 24 hours a day, seven-days-a-week to over 330,000 Time Warner Cable basic level subscribers encompassing San Antonio and surrounding areas.

    CTSA will launch its 25th anniversary celebration at its Leadership Luncheon, which this year, honors J. Michael Belz, president and CEO of Catholic Life Insurance, for his role in communicating the spiritual and ethical values of the Catholic faith through service to the community. Keynote speaker at the event will be Dr. Ray Guarendi, author of books on parenting and co-host of the 13-week TV series, “What Catholics Really Believe,” currently airing on CTSA.

    Reservations for the noon luncheon on Thursday, Jan. 25, at the AT&T Community Centre can be made at (210) 734-1617.