KARACHI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, Pakistan, has launched Good News TV, its first television channel.

Over the years, the Archdiocese has been quick to adopt new technologies in its efforts to communicate with the people of Pakistan and the wider community.

This included the launch of an Urdu weekly newspaper, Agahi (Awareness), the first of its kind in the country, which began three ago. Shortly afterwards, its online edition was made available.

Less than a year ago, the Archdiocese launched the first Catholic Web TV and now has embraced digital and satellite technology and now the Good News TV channel.

The Archdiocese of Karachi has become the first in Pakistan in this important field and has also registered itself among those few Asian countries which has such a channel.

The broadcasts will be aired nationally, as well as in other parts of Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe, seven days a week, 24 hours a day and will feature a modern format.

A spokesperson told ANS, “We will have an open dialogue focused on the message of Jesus Christ in the 21st century, especially as it is lived in today’s world. There will also be religious as well as other programs with inspirational themes.”

The visionary behind this venture is Father Arthur Charles, a priest of the Archdiocese who has a doctorate in Dogmatic Theology. Apart from lecturing at National Catholic Institute of theology, he holds a key canonical post of Vicar General in the Archdiocese. He is Editor-in-Chief of Agahi and the director of the Catechetical Centre Karachi. He is now the president and the CEO of Good News TV.

“Good News TV will place a special emphasis on values and will show programs which cannot be seen on other TV channels,” said Fr. Charles.

Program hosts and guests will include members of the clergy and distinguished laity, members of civil society and reputed media personalities. A team of anchor people will host the programs, which has segments devoted to research-and-knowledge-based news and what Father Charles calls “Good News.”

Archbishop Evarist Pinto has hailed the launch of Good News TV as “a massive step forward for a different way of broadcasting in the country.”

In a speech at the inauguration of the office-cum-production centre of Good News TV, he called on the media to promote family values, human dignity and the common good.

“No doubt,” said the Archbishop, “the mass media has contributed a great deal for the benefit of our society; however, it has also transmitted in various forms some destructive elements in our families and society.”

The channel will commence its test transmission today (Christmas Eve).

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.