"The Bible Continues" at the University of Notre Dame

Film and television producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett visited the University of Notre Dame on Wednesday, Feb. 25, stopping to pray at the famous Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and Basilica of the Sacred Heart and enjoying a reception with campus dignitaries before previewing episode one of their much anticipated 12-Part NBC series, "A.D. The Bible Continues" for a crowd of students, faculty and invited guests.

"Notre Dame is a stunning place and we are so grateful for the warm welcome," Downey said to a group of faculty and campus leaders gathered in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on campus. "This series will move many hearts around the world and we continue to be thrilled with the response we are getting from Catholic audiences."

Ecclesial endorsements of the series have been strong, with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington D.C., Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix and Bishop Dominick Lagonegro of the Archdiocese of New York, among others, offering their endorsement. In addition, Catholic publisher Sophia Institute Press has been granted the exclusive rights to publish a Catholic Viewer’s Guide and a trade book associated with the series.

"A.D. The Bible Continues" picks up where Burnett and Downey's last series, "The Bible"—which set ratings records last Easter season for the History Channel—left off, chronicling what would become the most powerful global movement in history: the rise of the Church. The series will premiere on Easter night, April 5.

"There is something wonderful happening when an American broadcast network like NBC becomes so supportive of a series concerning Christ and the Church he founded," Burnett said. "We are privileged and humbled to be able to tell the story of the earliest days of the Church, from Pentecost through the stories of Acts, for a network TV audience."