Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53327
Title: | Radio and the Church - a historical glance |
Authors: | Sultana, Carl-Mario |
Keywords: | Radio in religion Evangelistic work Radio in religion -- Catholic Church Church public relations |
Issue Date: | 2014 |
Publisher: | Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow Press, Poland |
Citation: | Sultana, C. M. (2014). Radio and the Church–a historical Gglance. The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II, 4(2), 203-220. |
Abstract: | Radio is a very powerful mass communication medium. In radio broadcasting, one can hear the echo of Christ’s words to his apostles in the missionary discourse: “You received without charge, give without charge…What you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house tops” (Mt 10,8b.27). Although the Church uses radio as a means to transmit the Good News of salvation, and we as human beings receive radio transmissions as a part of our daily life, we barely stop to think and reflect upon the underlying aspects of radio as a means of communication. In this paper, the Author endeavours to give a historical overview of what makes radio an important medium for evangelisation according to four key documents of the Church, while also studying the underlying theological positions found in these documents. These documents enable us to study radio as a broadcasting medium, highlighting the possible reactions of the Church to radio and how the Church changed its stance on radio over the years. The reason for focussing specifically on radio is for two particular reasons: from the very beginning, the Church has considered radio as a means for evangelising the masses. Notwithstanding this, what is going to be discussing in the paper can be equally applied to Television as a mass communication medium. Secondly, the Church took an active role in radio broadcasting by asking Guglielmo Marconi himself to construct the Vatican Radio in 1931. The documents of the Church also offer us a theology of radio as a mass communication medium, with unity, progress and evangelisation being the fundamental aspects. Church documents posit that not everything should be broadcasted over radio but only messages which bring about peace and unity. |
URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53327 |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacThePTL |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Radio and the Church_A Historical Glance.pdf | 353.3 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in OAR@UM are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.