OUR PARISH IS THE WORLD

STORIES CHANGE LIVES

As a priest, I know that powerful human stories can change lives. I use such stories all the time when I preach my homilies and they always touch the hearts of the congregation.

A few years ago, it occurred to me: “What if we told the stories of Catholic celebrities?” This is the idea that led me to conceive, plan for, and eventually launch the Hound of Heaven series.

—Fr. Darrin Merlino

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THE FOUNDERS

JOSEPH CINEMATO, MBA

Joseph Cinemato, is a 10 time TELLY Award winning film and television producer, an international award-winning producer, director, and cinematographer, and was recently invited to be a member of the TELLY Awards Judges Council. Joseph has produced for ABC's Good Morning America, 20/20, various feature films, commercials, and music videos. He's shot for Dancing with the Stars, Disney, FOX, SPEED, HGTV, Travel Channel, and the US Army. In addition to entertainment, Joseph served as a missionary in two war zones, he's traveled around the country speaking at dozens of churches, and in 2017 was presented an award for Catholic Man of the Year by Bishop Timothy Freyer. Joseph received his Master's Degree in Business Administration.

FATHER DARRIN MERLINO, CMF

Fr. Darrin Merlino, CMF, is a Claretian Missionary priest living in L.A. His ordination in the year 2000 was the first ever in U.S. history to be broadcast live via the internet. He’s been an award-winning high-school teacher (Mary Star of the Sea, San Pedro, CA), associate pastor, and youth minister, and, for five years, the highly successful pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Prescott, Arizona. Among his many accomplishments at Sacred Heart was spearheading the recent $3.2 million renovation and redesign of the 50-year-old church building, which reopened on schedule in Nov. 2018. Now Fr. Merlino is following his original calling to the priesthood, evangelizing through the media, as co-founder of Catholic Media Missionaries and host of CMM’s flagship video conversation series, “Hound of Heaven.”

founders