When you think major media figures, nuns aren't typically top of mind. But the Carmelite nuns of Indianapolis are turning that notion on its head.
The Roman Catholic Church faces a growing need to recruit young Catholics, accustomed to a very secular world, to religious life. When the aging sisters of the Carmelite
Monastery in Indianapolis began discussing ways to recruit more women to their order, they faced an even larger dilemma: How could they communicate with potential recruits when
they seldom venture outside the walls of their monastery - and rarely invite anyone in? These media-savvy sisters enlisted the help of ad agency Young & Laramore, which asked
them a basic question: What do you do all day? "We pray," the sisters responded. "About what?" the ad folks asked. "We pray the news," they said. Thus, PrayTheNews.com was born in
March 2001. The Web site helps the sisters interact with the outside world without swaying their focus on contemplative prayer, and one section in particular where the sisters
offer their weekly reflections on various world events, from Enron to the Taliban, is a great news hook. Hetrick Communications was tasked with getting reporters and other
audiences interested and driving traffic to the new Web site.
At the outset of the priest sex abuse scandals in late March, the sisters advised Hetrick that they would be discussing the issue on their site. Because church officials were
saying little about the situation, the Hetrick team believed the sisters would draw media attention by speaking out. Plus, nuns are an often-overlooked source for information in
the Catholic Church. By writing a simple pitch offering the sisters as a source and sending it out by email to various media across the country, Hetrick was able to achieve major
placements on "American Morning" with Paula Zahn, NPR's Morning Edition and in The Chicago Tribune (which featured the Carmelites as a major source in its story). This wasn't the
first time the sisters had received major media attention. Hetrick was also able to get the "Today" show to pay a visit to the monastery in January to profile the sisters and
their Web site. "Who ever thought nuns could be media stars?" says Hetrick's Adam Hoover. (Hoover: 317/262-8080 ext. 236, [email protected])