To honor the visit of Pope Francis to the United States for the World Meeting of Families taking place in Philadelphia, the Catholic Telemedia Network (CTN), a division of DeSales Media Group, is sponsoring a “Welcome Pope Francis – Celebrate Family” project.

CTN sent a blessed Pope Francis doll to every Catholic school in Brooklyn and Queens, asking that it be the centerpiece for discussion and projects about the pope and the meaning of family.

“This is meant to be a teachable moment for all students,” says Gina Krainchich, director of CTN. “The doll should encourage the pope’s presence in every school community throughout the rest of this year.”

Each doll was blessed in a special ceremony at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral by Msgr. Kieran Harrington, president of DeSales Media.

Each school is encouraged to take school-family photos and to submit them to ctn@desalesmedia.org so that they can be posted on its website. Photos with classes, clubs, faculty, etc., are just some of the suggested groups.

Schools and classes are further encouraged to sponsor contests such as art, essay or trivia, with a papal and family theme.

Another suggestion is to take photos of the pope doll with the students of the month at each school and post them on bulletin boards.

Every school that participates will be entered into a raffle and the winning schools school will receive a papal memorabilia box filled with keepsakes of the pope’s visit that can be turned into in-house prizes or serve as various achievement awards.

All emails must be received by CTN by Oct. 21. Photos will continue to be accepted for posting throughout the year.

Other enrichment activities suggested include decorating school bulletin boards with photos; having the pope doll visit a class each week; taking the pope doll to school events, or charging 25 cents to have a photo taken with the doll with all the funds being donated to the missions.

The study of papal themes should also be an incentive to study the Year of Mercy called for by Pope Francis. It begins on Dec. 8. Curriculum could include a review of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

More information about the project can be obtained by contacting Laura Hickey, instructional media specialist for CTN, at 718-517-3100 or lhickey@desalesmedia.org.