Raymond Pichard OP (10 April 1913 – 24 February 1992) was a French Dominican priest, who became best known for presenting the television show Le Jour du Seigneur.[4]

Raymond Pichard OP
Born
Raymond Émile Guillaume Désiré Pichard[1]

(1913-04-19)19 April 1913
Moyaux, France
Died24 February 1992(1992-02-24) (aged 78)
Caen, France[2]
Occupation(s)Television presenter, priest
Known forLe Jour du Seigneur[3]

Biography

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The first Christmas Mass shown on television was broadcast in 1948 from Notre-Dame de Paris.[5] This inspired the priest Raymond Pichard to persuade the French Minister of Information, François Mitterrand to create a weekly 90-minute religious program on RTF.[6][7] 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 Le Jour du Seigneur in 1954.[8] Le Jour du Seigneur is the longest running French television show.[9] Raymond Pichard presented Le Jour du Seigneur from 1954 to 1975.[10] Raymond Pichard was also the co-founder of Radio-Loisirs which later became Télérama.[10]

Pichard also created Missionnaires de l'Audiovisuel in Rwanda in 1963.[10]

Bibliography

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  • Radio-télévision pour le Christ: histoire de la radio et de la télévision catholiques Janick Arbois, Raymond Pichard, A. Fayard, 1960, 120 p.
  • André Morelle, Raymond Pichard, le dominicain cathodique, Buchet-Chastel, 2009, 197 p. ISBN 978-2283610893

References

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