Welcome to America: Catholic Extension Launches Social Media Campaign in Anticipation of Pope Francis's Upcoming Visit
Photos with "Flat Francis" to welcome pontiff and show him the face of American Catholicism
CHICAGO, April 6, 2015 /
Christian Newswire/ --
Catholic Extension, a national fundraising organization celebrating 110 years working to make visible the power of faith in America's most marginalized communities, is welcoming Pope Francis to America in a big way with the launch of its #FlatFrancis campaign. The social media campaign began just prior to Holy Week and is designed to create excitement around the pope's three-city tour of America scheduled for September and culminating in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. In the first two weeks since its launch, the campaign's website at
www.flatfrancis.org already includes photos of #FlatFrancis from all over the United States.
"We're thrilled to launch this campaign to welcome the Holy Father to the U.S. and show him not only the face of American Catholicism but also the excitement surrounding our faith," said Father Jack Wall, President of Catholic Extension. "We hope people will participate as a way to share their enthusiasm for our pope while, at the same time, spread awareness about the mission of Catholic Extension, which works to build up the Catholic faith in the poorest communities of the U.S. -- something that Pope Francis has called all of us to do."
The concept behind the campaign is for people to take a photo with Flat Francis, which can be obtained via a downloadable PDF available at FlatFrancis.org, and post it on social media using the hashtag #FlatFrancis. Those who are not on social media can participate by emailing their photos to
socialmedia@catholicextension.org.
While photos typically consist of a simple selfie with the Flat Francis cut-out, Catholic Extension also encourages photos of people with #FlatFrancis at church, with a priest or youth group, on a service project or retreat -- virtually anywhere that represents their experience of the Catholic Church. The ultimate goal is for Catholic Extension to send a collage of the photos to Pope Francis in advance of his visit.
For more information on Catholic Extension, a papal society based in Chicago, please visit the official website at
www.catholicextension.org. Media inquiries should be directed to Lisa Gunggoll, 708.829.8669 or
lisa@lg-pr.com.
About Catholic Extension: Catholic Extension is a papal society that makes visible the power of faith in America's most marginalized communities by strategically investing in people, infrastructure and ministries. Since its founding in 1905, Catholic Extension has distributed more than $1.2 billion in today's dollars to provide funding and resources to dioceses and parishes that cannot support themselves. For more information visit www.catholicextension.org or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/catholicextension or on twitter at @CathExtension.
