By Voice staff

\American Catholics will have ample opportunities to “travel” with Pope Benedict XVI via television and radio when he makes his first papal visit to the U.S. April 15 through April 20. EWTN Global Catholic Network and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide special live coverage during the Pontiff’s six-day trip from the time his plane lands until he departs the country.

PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and the Knights of Columbus, courtesy of the Fox Business Channel, will also contribute commentary around Benedict XVI’s visit.

EWTN is scheduled to provide live coverage (PDT) as follows:

April 15, 12:30 p.m. Arrival at Andrews Air Force Base and greetings by President George Bush and Church dignitaries (Encore 5 p.m., April 15 and 1 a.m. April 16).

April 16, 7 a.m. Reception with President and Mrs. Bush at the White House, followed by a private meeting (Encore 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.)

April 16, 2:30 p.m. Prayer service and address with the U.S. bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Encore 7:30 p.m. and April 17 1 a.m.)

April 17, 6:30 a.m. Mass at the new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. (Encore 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.)

April 17, 1:30 p.m. Address to Catholic educators gathered at the Catholic University of America (Encore 6 p.m. and April 18, 2 a.m.)

April 17, 3 p.m. Interfaith prayer service with representatives of various religions (Encore 7:30 p.m. and April 18, 3:30 a.m.)

April 18, 6:30 a.m. Arrival at JFK International Airport in New York (Encore 1:30 p.m. 10 p.m.)

April 18, 7:30 a.m. Address at the United Nations (Encore 11:30 a.m., 5 p.m., 11 p.m.)

April 18, 2:30 p.m. Ecumenical prayer service at St. Joseph Church in Manhattan (Encore 7 p.m. and April 19, 12:30 a.m.)

April 19, 6 a.m. Mass with priests, deacons and religious at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Encore 10 a.m. and April 20, 8 p.m.)

April 19, 1 p.m. Youth rally (Encore 5 p.m. and April 20, 1 a.m.)

April 20, 6 a.m. Visit to Ground Zero (Encore 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.)

April 20, 11 a.m. Mass at Yankee Stadium (Encore 7 p.m.)

April 20, 4:30 p.m. Depart for Rome (Encore 11:30 p.m.)

EWTN is carried 24 hours a day on Comcast Digital Channel 229, DISH Satellite Channel 261 and DirecTV Channel 370. In Alameda, EWTN airs on Comcast Channel 30 and Alameda Power Channel 26. Additional programming information is available at www.ewtn.com.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio will dedicate three channels to the papal visit. The Catholic Channel, SIRIUS 159, will provide 24-hour coverage of the visit, broadcasting all the major events and hourly updates. Papal Playback, SIRIUS 143, will re-broadcast key moments and events from the trip.

The Papal Archives Channel, SIRIUS 119, will air April 14 through April 20, showcasing rare archival recordings of Masses and speeches from historic papal visits including Pope Paul VI’s address to the United Nations and Pope John Paul II’s Mass at Candlestick Park.

Knights of Columbus will air a half-hour preview to the Pope’s U.S. visit on Fox Business Channel, April 13 at 2:30 p.m. A panel of experts will discuss the pope’s career and his three years as pope.

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, hosted by veteran journalist Bob Abernathy, will provide three consecutive reports on the papal visit beginning April 11 through April 27. They will air on KQED World (Channel 190) Saturdays at 7 a.m., Sundays at 4 a.m. and Mondays at 7 a.m. and on V-me (Channel 191) on Wednesdays at 7:02 p.m. and Thursdays at 4 a.m.

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