European editorial: Christian Radios

(Vatican Radio) In the tenth in a series of Vatican Radio editorials focusing on the Church and Europe, the head of Vatican Radio’s French Programme, Romilda Ferrauto, discusses Europe’s Christian radios

Do Christian radios still have a role to play in Europe, especially in the midst of the media maelstrom caused by the explosion of social networking and the internet? It’s a question that members of the European Conference of Christian Radios (CERC) ask themselves constantly. Founded in 1994, in a very different socio-political environment, CERC organises the annual Day of Christian Radios on January 24^th, the feast of St Francis de Sales, patron of journalists.

In a country like France, Christian radios often have the feeling of having lost their authoritative voice in this new system of freely circulating ideas. Opinion surveys and independent data continually confirm that the dechristianization of society is irreversible. Believers, on the other hand, say they feel left out and largely ignored: which is why they resort to using carefully selected digital platforms where they can share their views with others who feel the same way they do.

The aim and purpose of Christian radios is not to entertain but, rather, to examine human existence within a Christian focus. The problem is how to retain their specific identity and be effective tools of evangelization in a super-competitive universe that promises equal access to everyone in terms of ideas and understanding, and claims that the power to share means a more open and interconnected world. Coherence and identity are inevitably at stake.

And yet, more than ever before, freedom of speech – the courage to go against the flow, to express different opinions – is becoming an essential counter-proposal in an ever-more conformist Europe where one-sidedness, political correctness, and the dictatorship of the majority, tend to dominate. People need information that includes reflection and contextualization – especially when there is so much of it, like now. Christians know and understand that words have enormous power: they can give life, and they can take it away.

It’s a complex jungle where borders no longer exist. But it’s here that Christian radios are called to act as a compass, helping to decipher the onslaught of information and put it in context – in other words, to awaken consciences. It’s also true that in order to survive on this communications continent, Christian radios need to invest in new territories and resist the temptation of closing themselves off in their own little ghettos. In Europe, like elsewhere, Christian radios still have a long way to go when it comes to reviewing both their image and their professional skills.

Romilda Ferrauto
Head of Vatican Radio’s French language Section