October 1, 2006

I was reminded of the universality of the modern communications revolution the other day when an Australian film producer came to the rectory and showed me a laptop computer which he had shown to Sister Lucia, the last surviving visionary of Fatima. It was the first she had seen, and she enjoyed touching a couple of the keys. I touched those keys in the hope that my feeble computer skills might improve.

It does no good to lament the corruption of much of the media, for electronic means of communication are morally indifferent. Like music and atomic energy and any other material reality, they can serve Christ or the Anti-Christ and we are accountable for what we do with them. We have seen recently the consequences of the media deliberately distorting what the Pope says. But never before have the Pope and other noble voices been able to reach so many people. It was a great privilege for me as a student in Rome to know the widow of the inventor of the radio. The Marchesa Marconi took delight in showing me pictures of her husband standing by proudly as Pope Pius XI became the first pontiff to be heard around the world on Vatican Radio. Last Tuesday, Neil Armstrong passed through our parish and I recalled the thrill of his voice from the moon in 1969.

Eighteen years ago I began doing programs on the Eternal Word Television Network which has become the largest religious network in the world. During the course of the year we have many visitors from various continents who have seen our church on the screen in their own countries. Ironically, that network which reaches the globe had a hard time getting access to our own metropolitan New York area. Finally it has, through the efforts of many volunteers, and at the 11:00 am Mass next Sunday, October 8, I shall be able to welcome them as they attend and give thanks for the fruits of their hard work. In a few weeks our own archdiocese will launch radio broadcasting on the Catholic Channel on SIRIUS Satellite Radio.

Leaders in communications often worship here inconspicuously. Last Monday a WABC radio host read on air an item from our parish bulletin which she had seen at Mass the day before. At that same Mass was a former head of National Public Radio. We must not underestimate the potential of the media for good. While some “movers and shakers” in the com­munications field may have an unworthy agenda, many are just misinformed while others simply lack the mental equipment to interpret the great truths. As Pope John Paul II confronted Marxism, so our Pope is confronting terrorism and, pray God, he will have the same success. I am sure the first Apostles of Rome, Peter and Paul, would have loved the Internet.

Fr. George W. Rutler