A veteran broadcaster, journalist, writer, essayist and blogger, Deacon Greg Kandra has given talks and retreats around the country on a wide array of subjects. Drawing on decades of experience as a television writer and producer, along with his work in the field of new media, he brings fresh insight and accessibility to the New Evangelization.
Deacon Greg Kandra is the Multimedia Editor for Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), a pontifical society founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926. He is also the creator of the popular blog, “The Deacon’s Bench,” carried on the spiritual website, Patheos. “The Bench” has attracted over five million visitors from around the world since it was launched in 2007, and today garners over 300,000 page views a month.
Before joining CNEWA, Deacon Greg spent nearly three decades in broadcast journalism, most of that time at CBS News, where he was a writer and producer for a variety of programs including “48 Hours,” “60 Minutes II,” “Sunday Morning” and “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.” He was also the founding editor of “Couric & Co.,” Katie Couric’s blog at CBS News. In addition to his work with CBS News, from 2000 to 2004 he also served as a writer and producer on the live finales of the hit reality series “Survivor.”
In 2002, he co-wrote the acclaimed CBS documentary “9/11,” hosted by Robert DeNiro, which told the story of firefighters on September 11, 2001. The film showed the only footage shot inside the World Trade Center that day, and featured the last images of Fr. Mychal Judge, moments before he became the first official fatality of the attacks.
In print, Deacon Greg’s radio essays were featured in Dan Rather’s best-selling book “Deadlines and Datelines.” His spiritual writing has been published in AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY and the BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to CONNECT!, the award-winning parish resource published by Liturgical Publications. Some of his homilies are collected in the new anthology “Hungry and You Fed Me.”
Deacon Greg has received every major award in broadcasting – including two Emmys, two Peabody Awards and four awards from the Writer’s Guild of America. He has been honored twice by the Catholic Press Association.
A Maryland native, Deacon Greg graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.A. in English. He and his wife live in Forest Hills, New York, where he serves as deacon at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs parish.
