Pro athletes to discuss their faith, family life in Faith Bowl III

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – A round-table discussion produced by Family Theater Productions will bring together professional Catholic athletes to discuss how they live out their faith in the public arena of professional sports and what challenges to family life they face.

The half-hour discussion, called Faith Bowl III, will air on several Catholic television broadcast outlets and networks in conjunction with Super Bowl XLIV Feb. 7.

This is the third consecutive year that Family Theater has produced Faith Bowl in conjunction with Catholic Athletes for Christ and the Knights of Columbus.

Faith Bowl III will feature Mike Piazza, a retired catcher who had a 16-year career in Major League Baseball, mostly with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers; Mike Sweeney, a 15-year veteran of Major League Baseball and designated hitter for the Seattle Mariners in 2009; Bobby Keppel, a relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins.

With Keppel as moderator, the panelists will discuss the importance of the Catholic faith, prayer and a sound Christian family life, and the important role of a husband and father in being a “true man.”

The three ballplayers are members of Catholic Athletes for Christ, which assists its members in the practice of their faith and helps them promote a Catholic sports culture.

The program was taped at Family Theater Productions in Hollywood last November following a Catholic Athletes for Christ retreat in nearby Mailbu.

The production team was led by executive producers Holy Cross Fathers Willy Raymond and David Guffey, Family Theater Productions’ national director and TV/film director, respectively; Ray McKenna, founding president of Catholic Athletes for Christ; and producer/director Jake Alba, who produced and directed Faith Bowls I and II and Family Theater’s previous production “Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel.”

The broadcast outlets scheduled to air Faith Bowl III are: Eternal Word Television Network, www.ewtn.com; CatholicTV of the Boston Archdiocese, www.catholictv.com; Catholic Life Channel in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, La., www.catholiclifetv.org; Catholic Community Television in Leesburg Fla., www.cctn.org; Instructional Television of the New York Archdiocese, https://itvny.org; Catholic TV in the Diocese of Scranton, Pa., www.dioceseofscranton.org; the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C., www.dioceseofraleigh.org; and Salt + Light Television Network in Toronto, www.saltandlighttv.org.

Catholic Review

The Catholic Review is the official publication of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.