VATICAN CITY, JUNE 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says Catholic radio stations can play a part in spreading hope in the world, and they can do it by relaying the truth.
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says Catholic radio stations can play a part in spreading hope in the world, and they can do it by relaying the truth.
The Pope said this today when he received participants in a symposium titled "The Identity and Mission of Catholic Radio Today." The symposium was organized by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and is under way through Saturday.
In his address, the Holy Father said, "The words that you broadcast each day are an echo of that eternal Word which became flesh. [...] The incarnation took place in a distant village, far away from the noisy imperial cities of antiquity. Today, even though you make use of modern communication technologies, the words you broadcast are also humble, and sometimes it may seem to you that they are completely lost amid the competition of other noisy and more powerful mass media.
"But do not be disheartened!" he added. "The words you transmit reach countless people, some of whom are alone and for whom your word comes as a consoling gift, some of whom are curious and are intrigued by what they hear, some of whom never attend church because they belong to different religions or to no religion at all, and others still who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ, yet through your service first come to hear the words of salvation. This work of patient sowing, carried on day after day, hour after hour, is your way of cooperating in the apostolic mission.
"If the many forms and types of communication may be seen as a gift from God to help individuals and all humankind to develop, then radio, through which you exercise your apostolate, brings words and music to people in order to inform and to entertain, to announce and to denounce, but always respecting the truth and with the clear aim of educating in truth and hope. Jesus Christ gives us the truth about man and the truth for man and, on the basis of that truth, a hope for the present and future of humanity in the world."
Exhilarating prospects
The Pontiff expressed the view that "radio, due to its association with the word, participates in the mission and visibility of the Church, but it also establishes a new way of living, of being and of making the Church; this brings with it various ecclesiological and pastoral challenges. It is important to make the Word of God attractive, giving it consistency through your transmissions so as to touch the hearts of the men and women of our time, and to participate in transforming the lives of our contemporaries."
"What exhilarating prospects your commitment and your work open up," the Holy Father added. "Even now, your networks can be a small but real echo in the world of the network of friendship that the presence of the risen Christ, the God-with-us, inaugurated between heaven and earth and among mankind of all continents and epochs.
"In this way, your work will become a full part of the mission of the Church, which I invite you to love deeply. By helping the heart of each person to open to Christ, you will help the world to open to hope and to that civilization of truth and love that is the most eloquent result of his presence among us."
Evoking the Word
The congress has gathered representatives from 50 countries and some 63 Catholic radio stations at the Pontifical Urbanian University.
In his greeting to Benedict XVI, Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said that radio "is fully integrated, through its multiple network connections, among the new means of communication."
"However," he added, "it is undoubtedly a medium that is closer to and more familiar with words, that is, the first and most important form of communication between human beings. The word evokes the Word, the God made flesh that the Church has the mission to communicate to the world."
The archbishop affirmed, "We are aware of having to explore with ever increasing intensity all paths that lead to a communion worthy of man, as image and likeness of the Savior God."
