SQPN’s Five Most Memorable Moments from 2013

5. Geekpriest: the book, the vlog and the podcast

Fr. Roderick wrote a book early in 2013 entitled ‘Geekpriest: Confessions of a New Media Pioneer‘ about his adventures in podcasting and more. Later in the year, he launched his ‘Geekpriest‘ vlog on Youtube. The vlog lets you peek in his daily life and you can experience big events, like the Conclave and World Youth Day,  from his point of view. In November we added a podcast to the mix. The Geekpriest podcast talks about comic books, movies, Star Wars, gadgets and other general geeky topics.

4. Secrets of Star Wars

After recovering from all the Papal news, we relaunched the ‘Secrets of Star Wars‘ podcast with co-host Dom Bettinelli in May. With the upcoming movies directed by JJ Abrams there’s plenty opportunity to analyze the news and speculate about the plot, and that’s exactly what happens in this podcast.

3. TWO Catholic New Media Conferences in 2013!

This was the year when the Catholic New Media Conference went global. The first CNMC this year took place in Melbourne, Australia! Bishop Julian Porteous, Fr. Roderick and Fr. John Corrigan, Australia’s first blogging priest, were some of the speakers. The feedback was very positive and we are not surprised when this will be returning in the future.

In October, the American CNMC was held at the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Center. Highlight of the event was the keynote by Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican.

2. World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro

Everybody was in high anticipation for World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro. It would be the first big event for Pope Francis, who of course is from South America himself. We saw images of complete mayhem, enormous crowds and a very positive vibe surrounding the event. SQPN was there, reporting via Facebook and Youtube with the video series ‘Geekpriest: Fr. Roderick in Rio‘.

1. The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

The most memorable moment of the year was the Papal Bombshell in February: Pope Benedict XVI announced he would resign from the papacy. It was a ‘Where were you when you heard the news’ moment. I remember working on show preperations for SQPN’s ‘Secrets of Once Upon A Time‘ when Fr. Roderick called me on Skype to inform me that all shows planned that week would be cancelled because of the news. I first thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t. When something happens in Rome, the Catholic Insider has to be there. Everything we planned for the first quarter was derailed, but it did give us Catholic Insider: Inside the Vatican in audio and video format.

2013 has been an amazing year for us, and for the Catholic Church in general. Who would have thought a year ago that even the secular media would be raving about the Pope?

We at SQPN wish you a very blessed 2014!