Despite large potential, Catholic television lacks resources, networking, says Archbishop Foley

Vatican City, Jan 19, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Earlier today at the Vatican, Archbishop John P. Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications told members of an organizational committee for the World Congress on/ Catholic Television that, although strong initiatives currently exist, Catholic television sorely lacks resources.

The meeting was held in the Vatican's Palazzo San Carlo.

In his address to the committee Archbishop Foley lamented that, although there are many "Catholic television initiatives, there are often insufficient resources in programming, finance or trained personnel to keep them all in operation.”

Observing that “One of the factors that seem to be missing is coordination and, indeed, cooperation,” the archbishop said that "Because of the nature of our universal responsibility as the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, we thought it might be a good idea to respond to requests from around the world to be a forum for planning and, indeed, helping to implement such coordination and cooperation.”

He stressed that “In no field more than broadcasting and telecasting is there more need for networking…”

This networking, he said, should allow common programming to be “offered throughout the world.” Likewise, he stressed the need for training facilities which “can be offered on an international basis,” and said that “ideas and programs” need to be shared within the industry.

"May our planning and our eventual congress”, the archbishop concluded, “help Catholic television to be a type of nervous system for the Church…a system which helps to inform, to energize ... the Church to an ever more perfect unity and to the continuing work of evangelization."