By Eric Martin
New ‘Catholic’ content has found its way to Perth’s airways at 8pm on Sunday evenings, courtesy of Journey: Catholic Radio, hosted by Jude Hennessy and local radio station 98five Sonshine FM.
Produced by the Diocese of Wollongong, Jude, who is the diocese’s Director of Renewal and Evangelisation, says Journey Catholic Radio has grown out of a desire to get powerful communicators from the Catholic Church to contribute to, support, and enhance the outreach of Christian radio.
“At the heart of starting the show was really about Catholics contributing to a medium that we knew already had a large number of people listening, but who weren’t necessarily going to Church,” Jude told The eRecord.
Based on his research, about four million people in Australia are exposed to Christian radio monthly, some 60 per cent of whom do not attend Church on a regular basis.
“I just saw this as a really vibrant way that the Catholic Church can contribute to new evangelisation. And secondly, it was a way to get a lot of the Protestant denominations to realise that Catholics have some amazing people who have got an incredible ability to communicate the Gospel building unity,” Jude said.
“We set up this little radio show locally and now it’s grown into something that’s played in 20 different radio stations nationally, with many more showing interest – lots of the radio stations have said to us, ‘yes, we are a Christian radio station and yes, we have no content from the biggest denomination – Catholics.
“They clearly see the value of content for a general Christian audience from Catholics.”
This means that certain subjects, areas of theological difference – are avoided, but Jude says that this requirement, to reduce the potential for theological conflict, is one that is also shared by other denominations who contribute regular content to Christian radio.
“It’s got to be palatable to everyone and avoid theological differences and pursue the general mission of all Christian churches. Once we’d briefed our presenters, they just knew to avoid certain things, just like the other denominations have to avoid certain things, we’ve all got nuances to our theology,” he said.
“For us it has been a really positive experience in most places with people saying, ‘Wow, we didn’t think Catholics could speak like this, we didn’t think Catholics would think like this: we didn’t think that they would have this depth of understanding of Scripture.”
However, there is a limit as to how far collaboration on certain topics can be covered ecumenically, he added, simply because of those different theologies.
“We can be unified where we can be, but let’s not pretend that we can be unified on everything; that’s the approach that we follow – keeping it real,” Jude continued.
He says that there has already been a profound impact and a warming of ecumenical relations in the areas where the show is being broadcast.
“It’s just changed a whole lot of attitudes: we went to the Australian Christian Radio Station’s Conference, and the first time that I went, I was in a room with 300 people from all these radio stations around Australia, and when I shared that I was Catholic and what we were doing; the response was: ‘Do you know how long we’ve been praying that somebody Catholic would come to this conference? We’ve been wanting this for years’.
“And that was a bit of a ‘wow’ moment for me.”
Jude says there have been so many people who have contacted him and shared that they are not Catholic, but that they love listening to the show and have changed their negative attitude towards Catholicism, which has been a genuine source of encouragement that the program is following the right path in its approach.
“For me, that’s really been such a powerful positive,” he said.
In addition to the weekly radio show, The Journey is also available as a podcast from jcr.org.au and Jude reports that this is an area of real growth in the programs popularity, with just as many new listeners availing themselves of this online access, as those who listen via their local station.
“A lot of areas haven’t got a radio station that’s beaming into their homes, especially in remote or rural areas. The reality is that a lot of people will get this through iTunes or SoundCloud and they can listen to it at any time,” Jude said.
Some of the popular segments and presenters from Journey: Catholic Radio Show include:
- A weekly two-minute reflection on the Gospel Reading of the Sunday and its relevance for modern lives – presented by a variety of Clergy.
- Mother Hilda Scott – sharing stories and insights from her deep life of prayer – her ‘wisdom from the Abbey’
- Smart Loving with Dr Byron and Francine Pirola, two sought after speakers who offer weekly tips to help develop vibrant Christian marriages which are at the heart of society.
- Peter Gilmore, a scripture teacher, youth minister, graphic designer and Musician who presents Living the Gospel, which challenges young people to embrace a life with Jesus.
- Bruce Downes, an evangelist, preacher and public speaker, who provides weekly content from his popular pay TV show on the Christian Channel, The Catholic Guy.
- The Peaceful Parent: Marilyn Rodriguez shares stories of her life as a Catholic mum, raising kids and developing Christian homes.
- The Call: Australia’s recently established religious congregation, the Missionaries of God’s Love (MGL) provide simple, short messages that focus on the “New Evangelisation”, drawing believers and those on the fringes of faith into a deeper walk with Jesus.