AUCKLAND A Dutch priest who rose to international prominence after posting on the Internet his observations of St Peter’s Square around the time of the death of Pope John Paul II will deliver the 2009 NZ Catholic Lecture. Fr Roderick Vonhogen, a priest of Utrecht archdiocese, has added a range of Internet projects to his list of parish duties. He is the founder of the Star Quest Production Network, an initiative launched with a mission of leading the way in Catholic new media.

The Star Quest Production Network has achieved that, with more than 200,000 episodes of a range of shows, including Fr Vonhogens The Daily Breakfast and Catholic Insider programmes, downloaded each month.

Fr Vonhogen writes a daily column for a Dutch Catholic newspaper, answers faith-related questions on his blog and has been a regular commentator for international Catholic and secular news sources.

He has also spoken at several international Catholic conferences on the Church’s use of new media the Internet, including blogs, podcasts, video podcasts and social networking. He will be the keynote speaker at the Australasian Catholic Press Associations annual conference in Sydney in September.

He will be in Auckland to deliver the NZ Catholic Lecture, speaking on New Media for New Apostles, at 7.30pm on Tuesday, September 15. The lecture will be given at the Maurice Auditorium at Sacred Heart College, 250 West Tamaki Rd, Glen Innes.

For more information, call (09) 360-3068.