Raymond Pichard (10 April 1913 – 24 February 1992) was a French Dominican priest, who became best known for presenting the television show

Le Jour du Seigneur ''Le Jour du Seigneur'' ( English: The Lord's Day) is a France 2 religious programme that presents Christianity, usually broadcasting Catholic mass and services, amongst other things related to religion. It was the first broadcast Vatican Cathol ...

Biography

The first Christmas Mass shown on television was broadcast in 1948 from

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

. This inspired the priest Raymond Pichard to persuade the French

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given t ...

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

to create a weekly 90-minute religious program on RTF. From 9 October 1949, a Catholic program was broadcast consisting of Mass, news, the history of the Church, and Christian lectures. In 1950, Pichard created the production company Comité français de radio-télévision (CFRT) to broadcast religious programming on a weekly basis for 90 minutes, which would be entitled

in 1954. Le Jour du Seigneur is the longest running French television show. Raymond Pichard presented Le Jour du Seigneur from 1954 to 1975. Raymond Pichard was also the co-founder of Radio-Loisirs which later became

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French language, French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic ...

. Pichard also created Missionnaires de l'Audiovisuel in Rwanda in 1963.

Bibliography

* ''Radio-télévision pour le Christ: histoire de la radio et de la télévision catholiques'' Janick Arbois, Raymond Pichard, A.

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, 1960, 120 p. * André Morelle, ''Raymond Pichard, le dominicain cathodique'', Buchet-Chastel, 2009, 197 p.

References

External links

Comité français de radio-télévision
1913 births 1992 deaths Clergy from Normandy French television presenters French Dominicans 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests People from Calvados (department) {{France-reli-bio-stub