National Director
Family Theater Productions, Hollywood, CA
Father Wilfred (Willy) Raymond, CSC, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, is the National Director of Family Theater Productions, a member of Holy Cross Family Ministries. Since September 2000, he has led the Catholic media ministry, founded in Hollywood in 1947 by Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, the “Rosary priest,” Catholic media pioneer and now sainthood candidate. Family Theater Productions evangelizes culture using mass media to entertain, inspire and educate families, all to fulfill their famous motto, “The family that prays together stays together.”
Father Willy leads Family Theater Productions in:
- Film and television production (dramas and documentaries), including the award-winning “God, Country, Notre Dame: The Story of Father Ted Hesburgh, CSC,” which has aired on public TV stations across the country;
- Radio production including Voz Latina Radio programs in Spanish – dramas, documentaries and public service announcements which have won 31 prestigious awards and the digital re-mastering and distribution of Family Theater Classic Radio programs;
- The annual Angelus Student Film Festival, now it its 15th year, as it “cultivates and honors future filmmakers” (on the university undergraduate and graduate levels) “as they explore and create works that respect the dignity of the human person.”
- A nationwide public-service billboard prayer campaign;
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Hollywood Prays, an outreach that Father Willy created aimed at young Catholics pursuing careers in the media industry. It includes monthly Prayer-and-Pasta nights, “Going Deeper” in the Catholic faith and other spiritual seminars, and an RCIA program designed for people in the entertainment industry.
In March 2010, Father Willy, who has been executive producer of more than 100 radio and television programs, received the second annual Magis Award for socially conscious filmmaking from the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress Film Showcase, following the award’s inaugural winner, actor Martin Sheen.
Before coming to Family Theater Productions, Father Willy served most of his years as a priest as a vocation director and then as Campus Minister, Director of Residence Life and Administrator at Stonehill College. He was selected assistant provincial and vicar of the Holy Cross’ Eastern Province from June 1994 to 1998. He served as provincial of the same province from 1998 to 2000. In that office he occupied the chairmanship of the corporate members and president of the Board of Directors of Holy Cross Family Ministries, of which Family Theater Productions is a member. He also served on the Boards of Directors and the Executive Committees of both Stonehill College in Easton, MA, and King’s College in Wilkes Barre, PA during which time both colleges elected new presidents.
In 2009, Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, appointed Father Willy to serve as the founding chaplain of the Hollywood Chapter of Legatus, an international organization “for Catholic CEO’s and their spouses to study, live and spread the Faith in their business, professional and personal lives.” Also, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals, the U.S. affiliate of SIGNIS, a Vatican-sanctioned international organization of Catholic communication professionals. He is a member and past president of the Catholic Communicators of Southern California. He serves as Chaplain to the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB team, and is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He will be inducted into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in October 2010. He is in residence at St. Monica’s Catholic community, Santa Monica, CA, where he celebrates Mass and participates in the ministry of the parish.
At twenty years of age he entered the Congregation of Holy Cross in September 1964. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1967 from Stonehill College and a Master of Theology degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1971. He made solemn vows in 1970 and was ordained a priest of Holy Cross on April 3, 1971. In 1992-93 he pursued a year of theological studies at the School of Applied Theology, Berkeley, CA.
A native of Maine, Father Willy is one of 12 children born to Joseph and Lydia (Belanger) Raymond.
He likes most sports and follows the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and all the Boston professional sports teams, especially the Red Sox, and the L.A. Dodgers. He loves movies and history, especially American, European and Church history. He is also a big fan of the writings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. He follows American and world politics and affairs.
The early morning Mass at Saint Monica’s at 6:30 a.m. is his favorite, and he can also be found every Friday afternoon from 3 to 4 praying a Holy Hour for Hollywood. Family Theater staff and friends join him to pray for all in the mass media and entertainment industries. The Rosary is his favorite non-liturgical prayer, and he joins the Family Theater staff each day to pray the Rosary at 11:40 before noon Mass.
In addition to English, he is conversant in French and Spanish.
To stay in touch with Father Willy’s activities, watch for his blog entries at http://blog.familyrosary.org.