StoryTel Documentary to be Televised on EWTN for the 14th Time in 4 Years

OMAHA, Neb., Sept. 24, 2013 – StoryTel Foundation announces their documentary “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred” will be televised on EWTN for the 14th time in four years on Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 6:30pm ET to 230 million homes worldwide as proof this story is standing the test of time. Saint John Cantius […]

OMAHA, Neb., Sept. 24, 2013 – StoryTel Foundation announces their documentary “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred” will be televised on EWTN for the 14th time in four years on Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 6:30pm ET to 230 million homes worldwide as proof this story is standing the test of time.

Saint John Cantius Church has grown in fame in the years following the premiere of Storytel’s “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred” on EWTN in May of 2009. People around the world in EWTN’s global Catholic network have connected with StoryTel’s presentation of this amazing true story of how an all-but-abandoned huge, old church, destined for the wrecking ball, became a thriving religious and cultural treasure again.


Structured similar to an opera, “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred” uses the music from the choirs of Saint John Cantius to set and change the mood and to help drive the story forward. The story builds almost by itself as the production elevates liturgical beauty, appreciates Sacred music, and demonstrates how little things like making confession available during Sunday mass can have a profound impact on parishioner participation in the sacrament.

Father Scott Haynes, CRSJC of Saint John Cantius, exclaims, “A powerful tool for our parish’s revitalization and for the work of our religious community!” Father Haynes also described this production as, “A decisive tool for attracting vocations, a video that clearly proclaims who we are and what we do.”

The impact “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred” continues to have led StoryTel to revisit and review the documentary a few months ago, where they began discussing how far video and audio technology has advanced in the years since this documentary was originally shot, way back in the days of Betacam-SP video tape. The production crew decided it was time they took advantage of current technology to re-create this production in widescreen and bring all image and sound quality up a few notches.

StoryTel went to work restoring and remastering and re-edited the picture into 4×3 widescreen; enhanced and re-mixed the soundtrack; re-created the titles and sharpened the still images; closed captioned the whole production for the hearing impaired; dubbed it into Spanish to reach untapped markets; and basically enhanced all the visuals and audio wherever possible throughout the entire documentary. Without altering any content, StoryTel renewed and remastered the documentary so that the beauty of the program can continue to cut across cultures and time.

After 14 broadcasts dates on EWTN’s seven English-language satellites spanning Africa and India; Canada; the United States; Europe; the Pacific Rim; UK and Ireland; totaling 75 individual English broadcasts in four years, viewers are still calling EWTN to praise “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred”, further proof that Catholics around the world are entertained by this production and inspired to see the Sacred elements of our faith restored.

In 2012, StoryTel’s Spanish-dubbed version of the Cantius story, “San Juan Cancio, La Restauración de lo Sagrado”, premiered on EWTN and has since been televised on four separate dates to EWTN’s global Spanish-language channels.

The Spanish and English “Saint John Cantius” productions together are currently reaching over 230 million homes throughout the world with 94 individual broadcasts from eight different EWTN satellites. Both versions are now contained on one DVD, at storytel.org/order, in the newly restored and remastered; widescreen; closed captioned; English or Spanish language; and enhanced audio “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred”.


StoryTel’s President, Don Carney, insists, “If you haven’t seen it, the story will astound you — and if you have seen it before, you know you’ll enjoy the experience of revisiting this timeless StoryTel story in the newly restored widescreen edition.”

See “Saint John Cantius, Restoring the Sacred” on EWTN, Wednesday, September 25 at 6:30pm ET, in its 14th televised broadcast in four years.

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