VATICAN - The identity and mission of Catholic radio

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Over 60 representatives from Catholic radio broadcasters from all over the world gathered in Rome on June 19-21 for a congress organized by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. It was held at the Pontifical University Urbaniana, on “The identity and mission of Catholic radio today. A reflection on what it is to be human in order to be at the service of the person.”
The radio has proven to be a form of mass media with easy access by all social groups and in all parts of the world, thanks to the launch it has received through the internet. It is a form of mass media that does not require certain mechanisms for usage and it can even be used while the listener carries out other activities. For some time now, the Pontiffs have recognized the great potential of the radio, and as John Paul II stated in an address to Vatican Radio (which was the opening of a new door in the Vatican’s communications model), there is a need to rediscover this form of mass media as entirely useful and in conformation with the work of evangelization, communion, and solidarity among peoples. The radio today is a new form of mass media, for all practical purposes, however it continues to be the one that retains the most strict relation to the word.
“The word harks back to the Word, the God become flesh whom the Church has the mission of communicating to the world,” said Archbishop Claudia Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. In this manner, the strict relation among the mission, identity, and means of communication is understood. As took place in the recent Congress held at the School of Communications, in this event as well, this point has been studied every day with scheduled round-table discussions, in order to foster an intense dialogue, sharing the experiences among those who dedicate their lives to communications and the mission through the radio.
The groups, over the course of the conference, discussed the role of radio in communicating the Word, on the various forms in which radio communications work according to the context in which they operate. In Africa, for example, there are many Catholic broadcasting stations, although they are small-scale institutions. And yet, there are quite a few countries where the Church is prohibited to have radio broadcasting stations. Among the issues addressed were: what themes need to be faced and resolved through this means of communication; the responsibility of communicating with the poor, the elderly, the sick; and the opportunity of new technologies, a sign of globalization, in respect to how much space should be reserved to productions of a local character. (PC) (Agenzia Fides 23/6/2008)