The April 9 premiere of the Jesuit KPS TV program "Oh My God," shows U.S. Jesuit Father Jerry Martinson and two young hosts singing and dancing inuring the 30-minute program. (Photo by ucanews.com)
The Jesuit-run Kuangchi Program Service (KPS) in Taiwan is launching a new TV program "Oh My God," which it says will be the first weekly TV series in Asia about the pope.
The KPS held a premiere of the program, whose Chinese title is "Hello Papa!" at its Taipei headquarters on April 9, a week ahead of its official broadcast on the Dongfeng Satellite TV station.
In addition to presenting the values of Pope Francis to a Chinese audience, "Oh My God" also will introduce various social and pastoral services of the church in Taiwan, said KPS director Chuang Li-hung.
"It is KPS' desire to provide for everyone to see warm and good stories in every corner of Taiwan," she said.
"The efforts of dedicated priests and sisters throughout Taiwan echo the appeal and values of the pope. We hoped to connect the spiritual guidance of the Vatican to Taiwan to show these beauties and show the warmness of faith life to the public through the program," she said.
While introducing the program, KPS vice director U.S. Jesuit Father Jerry Martinson said a copy of it was presented to Pope Francis by another vice director Father Emillio Zanetti during a recent visit to the Vatican.
The response from the pope was "Oh my God," which became the name of the 30-minute program, Father Martinson said.
Father Martinson will be the host of the show along with two young co-hosts.
The weekly series marks the second program produced through the sponsorship by the Vatican and Taiwan's foreign affairs ministry, the first being a documentary on Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione.
The Jesuits in Taiwan established the Kuangchi Audio Recording Service in 1958 to produce radio programs. It started to produce TV programs and documentaries in 1961. It is well known locally for its educational and children's TV programs.