***CBS MEDIA ADVISORY - CONFERENCE CALL ***

  

WHAT:           Conference call with IN GOD'S NAME executive producers

                        JULES NAUDET and SUSAN ZIRINSKY

  

WHY:              To discuss IN GOD'S NAME, a Dec. 23 primetime television event featuring extraordinary footage of 12 of the world's most influential religious leaders, all featured in a single broadcast for the first time.

 

            WHEN:           FRIDAY, DEC. 14 (1:00 PM, ET; 10 AM, PT)

  

(*This special is not yet available for review, though we will be able to forward you a link to a

5 1/2 minute feature for background purposes prior to the call.)

 

FOR CALL-IN NUMBER/PASSCODE, PLEASE R.S.V.P. TO:

           

            Barbara Abseck                       

(CBS-N.Y.)      212-975-4637                beabseck@cbs.com

            Lori A. DelliColli          

(CBS-L.A.)      323-575-4269                ladellicolli@cbs.com

 

If you RSVP via phone and get voicemail, please leave both your phone number and e-mail address.

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet return to CBS with their first project since the multiple award-winning film "9/11."  IN GOD'S NAME, which reunites them with CBS News' Susan Zirinsky, explores the complex questions of our time through the intimate thoughts and beliefs of 12 of the world's most influential spiritual leaders.  These diverse and powerful voices offer provocative, compelling and enlightening perspective on myriad issues in our post-9/11 world, including the rise of terrorism, fanaticism, intolerance and war.  The special will be broadcast Sunday, Dec. 23 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

 

On the day of the terrorist attacks in September 2001, Jules and Gedeon Naudet were caught in the collapse of the World Trade Center.  Jules was shooting inside when the South Tower fell.  "On September 11, we faced death and thought we had lost each other," said Jules Naudet.  "This harrowing experience was the first step in a journey that would take us around the world searching for answers to the meaning of life."  The brothers' quest took them to Egypt, England, India, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Russia and the Vatican, as well as Illinois and South Carolina.  "We chose these 12 leaders because of the vast number of believers - more than four billion - that their faiths represent," said Gedeon Naudet.  "We also wanted to explore the diversity of spirituality in our world today."  The 12 leaders featured in this special, in alphabetical order, are:

 

o    Alexei II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church

o    Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader

o    Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church

o    The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists

o    Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim leader

o    Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation

o    Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest) of the Shinto Grand Shrine of Ise

o    Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

o    Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention

o    Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader

o    Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the Sikhs' highest authority

o    Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of Englan