PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Pope Francis is getting a helping hand from the Diocese of Brooklyn and DeSales Media Group to get his message out to the faithful all over the world.
The diocese had the honor of creating a video for the Holy Father’s prayer intention for October, “For a Shared Mission,” in which he reminds the faithful that laypersons have just as much responsibility as the clergy to work on the Church’s mission.
“We priests are not the bosses of the laity, but their pastors,” Pope Francis said.
The video, which features images selected by the diocese and DeSales Media Group to accompany the pontiff’s spoken words in Spanish (his native language), can be seen on the Holy Father’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
Pope Francis sets a prayer intention every month of the year, and the Vatican releases a video to reinforce his message. Each month, a different producer is selected to create a video to convey the pope’s words of wisdom.
The Diocese of Brooklyn was picked to create the video for October, which coincides with the Synod on Synodality taking place in Rome, where Catholics from around the world have come together to discuss the church’s future.
The diocese created the video with assistance from DeSales Media Group, the communications and technology ministry of the diocese. Bishop Robert Brennan said he was pleased they were able to play a role in the special project.
“Through our partnership with DeSales Media, we have highlighted the contributions of the laity in our diocese and challenged the faithful to create a bold, joyful, and welcoming community of faith and service,” Bishop Brennan said.
The video contains images of the Way of the Cross procession on the Brooklyn Bridge, food pantries, groups of the faithful in prayer, and, of course, Pope Francis speaking.
Having the opportunity to produce the video “was a big honor,” said Dominic Ambrosio, director of programming and production for DeSales Media Group. “For DeSales, it was humbling, and we were honored to be part of it.
Ambrosio said that the diocese was approached by the Vatican at the beginning of 2024 and was shown a list of the prayer intentions for each month.
“We looked at the 12 topics and we chose ‘Shared Mission’ because we felt it aligned with our approach in this diocese about the apostolic mission and the journey of faith coming together with people of our diocese,” Ambrosio explained.
“We also were aware that our diocese is one of the most diverse you will find anywhere. That could help us help the pope get his message across to a worldwide audience,” he added.
The diocese and DeSales Media Group collaborated with the general secretary of the synod and with the support of the Rete Mondiale di Preghiera del Papa, a nonprofit organization formed in 2024 to support the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
The work began in earnest once the decision was made to create the “For a Shared Mission” video. Marilyn Arreaga, a producer at DeSales Media Group, said the team was always aware that every shot in the video had to have a common purpose — reinforcing the Holy Father’s prayer intention.
“Based on the script of the pope’s words, we started planning, trying to come up with the images that would fit best. We used [previously shot footage] from past projects or just [previously shot footage] that DeSales owns,” Arreaga explained. “We basically tried to find the most diverse footage that we had.”
In his prayer intention, Pope Francis reminds the faithful that they must work hand in hand with priests.
With that in mind, the creative team was eager to reinforce the Pontiff’s message “that there are many different ways to serve the church, as an usher, a eucharistic minister, even as someone who volunteers to clean the church,” Arreaga added.
Glenn Perreira, lead video editor for Currents News, helped select the images and handled the editing duties.
“We wanted to show Catholics doing good works in their parishes … in their dioceses,” Perreira said. “Obviously, good visuals are very important regarding quality, but you also want things to convey the message of priests and parishioners working together to create a community within their parishes.
“It was a real team effort all the way.”