TV Picks June 17 - 23

SUNDAY, 4 a.m., live

Papal Mass in Assisi

EWTN During his visit to Assisi, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Basilica of St. Francis. Re-airs at 12 noon.


SUNDAY, 1 p.m., live

U.S. Open Golf  Championship

NBC The final round of the U.S. Open always produces drama. This year’s tournament is at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.


SUNDAY

The Titanic

HISTORY CHANNEL At 5 p.m., in Titanic’s Final Moments: Missing Pieces, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, in Russian submersibles in 2005, find two large sections of the Titanic’s bottom hull intact — and outside the wreck’s debris field. At 8 p.m., in Titanic: Achilles Heel, Chatterton and Kohler travel in 2006 to the site of the wreck of the Titanic’s larger sister ship Britannic, just off the Greek isle of Kea, to look for clues that both ships had a fatal design flaw. Advisory: TV-PG.


MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, 3 a.m., 6:30 p.m.

What Catholics Really Believe

EWTN In 30-minute daily installments, Dr. Ray Guarendi and the late Father Kevin Fete discuss St. Peter, the Papacy and Purgatory.


TUESDAY, 9 p.m.

Critical Situation: Downed Pilot

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL This special recounts the flight of Air Force Capt. Scott O’Grady over Bosnia in 1995, the downing of his F16 by missile, and his rescue after his dramatic, days-long eluding of a huge manhunt by the enemy. Advisory: TV-PG.


WEDNESDAY, 12 a.m., 9 p.m.

Rosarium Virginis Mariae

FAMILYLAND TV In his 2002 Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Most Holy Rosary), Pope John Paul II called the Rosary “at heart a Christocentric prayer” and wrote, “Through the Rosary, the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.” Cardinal Francis Arinze and Jerry Coniker analyze the document.


WEDNESDAY, 8 p.m.

Secrets of the Dead: The Hunt for Nazi Scientists

PBS In the last days of World War II, U.S., British and Soviet Russian forces engaged in fierce competition to capture the German scientists who had developed Hitler’s best weapons. Interviews and secret agents’ actual wartime film help tell the story.


THURSDAY, 8 p.m., live

Life on the Rock

EWTN Tonight’s guest is Gerry Faust, who coached the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame to a 30-26-1 record during 1981-1985 and who has always fostered love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Rosary and the priesthood.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.