A major upcoming ad campaign featuring former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden will aim to bring fallen-away Catholics in the Archdiocese of Brisbane back to church, Catholic Leader reported.
The Call to All Catholics campaign is reaching out to Catholics who may want to help out with its cause. Leaders of the campaign are asking active Catholics in the Archdiocese of Brisbane to pray, volunteer, and be a welcoming presence in their community.
While COVID-19 restrictions on Mass have contributed to the decrease in church attendance drastically this year, not many Brisbane Catholics were going to Church before 2020 either. Before this year, only eight to ten percent of the 700,000 people who identify as Catholic in the Brisbane area went to church on Sundays.
The campaign, scheduled for February and March 2021, will run across Southeast Queensland and target men ages 35-54 and multicultural women who have moved to the Brisbane area from other countries but haven’t yet engaged in their faith.
The campaign will utilize the Brisbane Times, social media, billboards, a podcast, and the radio stations like Triple M and 96Five to spread its message to “baptized but not practicing Catholics”. Hayden will be featured in video clips and interviews. The campaign will direct Catholics to three websites, baptisedcatholic.com.au, livingcatholic.com.au, and busycatholic.com.au.
The first Catholics to reside in Australia arrived with the First Fleet in 1788. They were mostly Irish convicts, together with a few Royal Marines, states Catholic Australia. There are now about 5.2 million Catholics in the country, about 23 percent of the population.
(Matthew Hayden bats during the Bushfire Cricket Bash T20 match between the Ponting XI and the Gilchrist XI at Junction Oval on February 09, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. The match is being staged as part of ‘The Big Appeal’, raising funds for the Australian Bushfire Appeal. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images))
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.