Excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's address to participants at an International Congress for Catholic Radio personnel sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. (June 20, 2008)
...Dear friends, as you work in Catholic radio stations you are at the service of the Word. The words that you broadcast each day are an echo of that Eternal Word which became flesh. Your own words will bear fruit only to the extent that they serve the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ. ...Today even though you make use of modern communication technologies, the words which you broadcast are also humble and sometimes it may seem to you that they are completely lost amidst the competition of other noisey and more powerful mass media. But do not be disheartened! You are sowing the Word "in season and out of season." (2 Tm 4:2), and thus fulfilling Jesus' command that the Gospel be preached to all nations. (cf Mt 28:19) The words which 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 never heard the name of Jesus Christ, yet through your service [they]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.
... radio, through which you excersise your apostolate, proposes closeness and listening to the word and to music in order to inform... to announce and denounce, but always with respect for reality and in a clear perspective of education in the truth and in hope. Indeed, Jesus Christ gives us the Truth about man and the truth for man, and based on this truth, a hope for the present and for the future of people and of the world. In this perspective, the Pope encourages you in your mission and congratulates you on the work you have done. However, as the "Mission of the Redeemer" emphasizes: "It is not enough to use the media simple to spread the Christian message and the Church's authentic teaching. It is also necessary to integrate that message into the "new culture" created by modern communications. (n. 37) By virtue of its association with words, radio shares in the Church's mission and in its visibility but also creates a new way of living, being and making Church... It is important to make the Word of God attractive by giving it substance in your programs and broadcasts to move the hearts of the men and women of our time and to take part in the transformation of our comtemporaries' lives.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what exciting prospects you have before you in your commitment and work! Your network can represent a small but concrete echo int he world of that network of friendship which the presence of the Risen Christ, the God-with-us, has inaugurated between Heaven and earth and among the peoples... By doing so your work itself will be fully part of the mission of the Church which I invite you to love deeply. By helping the heart of every person to open up to Christ you will help the world to be open to hope and to be wide open to that civilization of truth and love which is the most eloquent fruit of His presence among us. My Blessing to you all!
...Dear friends, as you work in Catholic radio stations you are at the service of the Word. The words that you broadcast each day are an echo of that Eternal Word which became flesh. Your own words will bear fruit only to the extent that they serve the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ. ...Today even though you make use of modern communication technologies, the words which you broadcast are also humble and sometimes it may seem to you that they are completely lost amidst the competition of other noisey and more powerful mass media. But do not be disheartened! You are sowing the Word "in season and out of season." (2 Tm 4:2), and thus fulfilling Jesus' command that the Gospel be preached to all nations. (cf Mt 28:19) The words which 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 never heard the name of Jesus Christ, yet through your service [they]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.
... radio, through which you excersise your apostolate, proposes closeness and listening to the word and to music in order to inform... to announce and denounce, but always with respect for reality and in a clear perspective of education in the truth and in hope. Indeed, Jesus Christ gives us the Truth about man and the truth for man, and based on this truth, a hope for the present and for the future of people and of the world. In this perspective, the Pope encourages you in your mission and congratulates you on the work you have done. However, as the "Mission of the Redeemer" emphasizes: "It is not enough to use the media simple to spread the Christian message and the Church's authentic teaching. It is also necessary to integrate that message into the "new culture" created by modern communications. (n. 37) By virtue of its association with words, radio shares in the Church's mission and in its visibility but also creates a new way of living, being and making Church... It is important to make the Word of God attractive by giving it substance in your programs and broadcasts to move the hearts of the men and women of our time and to take part in the transformation of our comtemporaries' lives.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what exciting prospects you have before you in your commitment and work! Your network can represent a small but concrete echo int he world of that network of friendship which the presence of the Risen Christ, the God-with-us, has inaugurated between Heaven and earth and among the peoples... By doing so your work itself will be fully part of the mission of the Church which I invite you to love deeply. By helping the heart of every person to open up to Christ you will help the world to be open to hope and to be wide open to that civilization of truth and love which is the most eloquent fruit of His presence among us. My Blessing to you all!