Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7—May 22,1980
FCC May Hold Radio Deregulation Hearings
NEW YORK (NC) - The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
will probably hold public hearings
over its proposals to deregulate radio
broadcasting, Richard H. Hirsch,
secretary of communication of the
U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC),
said.
Hirsch made the comment during
a debate with Daniel K. Griffin, vice
president and general manager of
WYNYFM, the National
Broadcasting Company station in
New York.
The exchange highlighted a
day-long regional meeting of
UNDA-USA in the St. James’
Cathedral Center, Brooklyn,
UNDA-USA is U.S. branch of the
international Catholic association for
broadcasters and allied
communicators.
The FCC deregulation proposals
would eliminate the rule that radio
stations accertain and address
community needs and would
eliminate limits on the amount of
time stations may devote to
commercials. They would end
minimum requirements for news,
public affairs and other programs,
such as religious broadcasts.
Hirsch said that the FCC has had
80,000 comments about the
deregulation proposals. A spectrum
of organizations ranging from the
USCC to the American Civil Liberties
Union is calling for hearings on the
question.
“This is an indication of broad
local concern on the public interest
question,” Hirsch said. “We are
calling for field hearings, outside of
Washington.”
Griffin and Hirsch clashed on the
question of who is the “consumer”
in radio broadcasting, the number of
commercials actually broadcast and
whether, by operating in a “freely
competitive marketplace” the
broadcasters would have flexibility
enough to respond to authentic
community interests.
The core of the question is
defining the public interest as
satisfaction of the consumer’s well
being, Hirsch said, adding that this
kind of constriction has never been
accepted in 50 years of broadcast
regulation.
“What in effect is going on is a
redefinition of public interests which
could be subject to a challenge
within the courts and we might well
be a party to this,” Hirsch said.
“Are the preferred options in the
public interest?” he asked. “If so we
will have no criteria by which the
public can hold the brodcaster
responsible. Will a freely competitive
marketplace operate in the public
interest? My reply to this is can we
assume that business will operate in
the public interest?
“We are convinced that in the
identification of the public with the
consumer, may groups — the poor,
the elderly — are non-consumers. Will
these groups have any right to expect
any kind of service from the
broadcasters?” Hirsch asked.
He said under the present
guidelines that radio stations can
broadcast up to 18 minutes an hour
of commercials, the FCC has received
complaints. He cited figures that
showed 24 percent of radio stations
broadcast more than 18 minutes per
hour in a given week.
Griffin disputed this and said that
FCC figures showed 97 percent of all
AM stations have kept to the
under-18 minute rule and that 99.6
of all FM stations have kept the rule.
Griffin also said marketplace does
not mean just consumers. “Everyone
who listens is a consumer in one way
or another.
“We talk about listeners,” he said.
‘‘Radio stations that become an
integral part of the community are
the ones that gain most acceptance
among listeners. You cannot dictate
to the public. We at NBC are
generally supportive of deregulation.
The standard should be based on past
performance in satisfying local needs
and interests both in entertainment
and non-entertainment.
“The needs of 50 years ago are
not the same as the needs today,”
KUMASI, Ghana (NC) - Here is
the text of Pope John Paul II’s
homily May 9 during a Mass for
catechists in the Kumasi stadium:
Dear brothers and sisters,
1. Today is a day of great joy, and
I have looked forward to this day for
a long time. I have wanted to come
and tell the catechists how much I
love them, how much the church
needs them.
Today is also a day of deep
meaning because Jesus Christ — the
son of God, the lord of history, the
savior of the world — is present in
our midst. Through his holy Gospel
he speaks to us in the words that he
once addressed to his disciples:
“All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded
you, and lo, I am with you
always. . .” (Mt. 28:19).
2. This command and this promise
of Jesus were the inspiration for the
evangelization of Ghana and all
Africa, and they have shaped the
lives of all who have collaborated in
the cause of the Gospel..
In a special way these words have
been taken to heart by numerous
catechists over the past century. And
today I wish to manifest the church’s
profound esteem for these devoted
workers in the service of the Gospel.
I express the gratitude of the
whole Catholic Church to these
catechists who are here today, to
their predecessors in the faith, and to
their feiiow catechists throughout
the continent of Africa - gratitude
for helping to make disciples for
Christ, for helping people to believe
that Jesus is the son of God, for
helping to instruct their brothers and
sisters in his life, and thus to build up
his body, the church.
This catechizing activity has been
accomplished by word and example,
and the dedication of countless
catechists and their deep attachment
to the person of Jesus Christ remain
a chapter of glory in the history of
this land and this continent.
3. The church recognizes in these
catechists people called to exercise a
particular ecclesial role, a special
sharing in the responsibility for the
advancement of the Gospel. She sees
them as witnesses of faith, servants
of Jesus Christ and his church,
effective collaborators in the mission
of establishing, developing and
fostering the life of the Christian
community.
In the history of evangelization
many of these catechists have in fact
been teachers of religion, leaders in
their communities, zealous lay
missionaries, and examples of faith.
They have stood faithfully by the
missionaries and the local clergy,
supporting their ministry while
fulfilling their own distinctive task.
The catechists have rendered
many services connected with
communicating Christ, implanting
the church and bringing the
transforming and regenerative power
of the Gospel ever more into-the lives
of their brothers and sisters.
They have assisted people in many
human needs and contributed to
development and progress.
4. In all of this they have
explicitly made known the name and
person of Jesus Christ, his teaching,
his life, his promises and his
kingdom. The communities that they
have helped to build up were based
on the same elements as were found
in the early church: on the apostles’
teaching and fellowship, of the
Eucharist and prayers (cf. Acts
2:42).
Thus the lordship of Christ was
fostered in one community after
another, from one generation to the
next. Through their generous work,
Christ’s command is continually
fulfilled and his promise verified.
5. The Church is not only grateful
for what has been accomplished by
the catechists in the past, but she is
confident for the future. Despite new
conditions, new requirements and
new obstacles, the relevance of this
great apostolate will remain
undiminished, because there will
always be a need to develop an initial
faith and to lead people to the
fullness of Christian life.
An increased realization of the
dignity and importance of the role of
the catechist is but one consequence
of the Second Vatican Council’s
insistence on the fact that the whole
church shares responsibility for the
Gospel.
Only with the collaboration of the
catechists will the church be able to
fulfill adequately the challenge that I
described in my apostolic
exhortation on eatechesis in our
time: “As the 20th century draws to
a close, the church is bidden by God
and by events — each of them a call
from him to renew her trust in
catechetical activity as a prime aspect
of her mission.
She is bidden to offer eatechesis
her best resources in people and
energy, without sparing effort, toil or
material means, in order to organize
it better and to train qualified
personnel. This is no mere human
calculation, it is an attitude of faith
(Catechesis Tradendae, 15).
6. The Sacred Congregation for
the Evangelization of Peoples,
numerous bishops and episcopal
conferences have placed strong
emphasis on the formation of
catechists, and in this they are
worthy of the highest praise.
The destiny of the church in
Africa is undoubtedly linked with
the success of this initiative. I wish
therefore to give full encouragement
to this wonderful work.
The future of catechetical activity
will depend on sound programs of
perparation, where there is ever
greater instruction for the catechists,
where priority is given to the
spiritual and doctrinal formation of
the catechists, and where catechists
are able to experience in some
measure the authentic sense of
Christian community that they are
called upon to build.
The instruments of catechesis
must also be given due attention,
including effective catechetical
materials that take into account the
need for the incarnation of the
Gospel in determined local cultures.
Moreover, the whole church must
feel committed to help face the
difficulties and problems inherent in
sustaining catechetical programs. In a
special way, the whole community of
the church must show its esteem for
the important vocation of catechists,
who must feel supported by their
brothers and sisters.
7. Above all, to ensure the success
of all catechetical activity, the aim of
catechesis itself must remain crystal
clear: catechesis is a work of faith
that is far beyond any technique.
It is a commitment of Christ’s
church. Its primary and essential
object is the mystery of Christ. Its
definitive aim is to put people in
enmmiininn wi + V* lociic PViwef (of
vuitiiiiMinvMi 0 11(11 uvguo UIUIOII yv-1.
Catechesis Tradendae, 5).
Through catechesis the activity of
Jesus the teacher goes on. He elicits
from his brethren an adherence to his
person, and through his word and
sacraments he leads them to his
father and to the fullness of life in
the most Holy Trinity.
8. Gathered here today to
celebrate the eucharistic sacrifice, we
express our trust in the power of the
Holy Spirit to continue to raise up
and sustain, for the glory of God’s
kingdom, new generations of
catechists, who will faithfully
transmit the good news of salvation
and bear witness to Christ and him
crucified.
9. Today the church offers to the
catechists the sign of Christ’s love,
the great symbol of redemption: the
cross of the savior.
For catechists of every age the
cross is the credential of authenticity
and the measure of success. The
message of the cross is truly “the
power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).
Dear catechists, dear brothers and
sisters: in fulfilling your role, in
communicating Christ, remember the
words of a pioneer catechist of the
fourth century, St. Cyril of
Jerusalem: “the Catholic Church is
proud of all Christ’s actions, but her
greatest boast is the cross” (Cat. 13).
With this cross, with the crucifix
that you receive today as a sign of
your mission in the church, go
forward confidently and joyfully.
And remember too that Mary is
always standing next to Jesus, close
to you. She is always by the cross,
she will lead you safely to the victory
of the resurrection. And she will help
you to communicate to others the
paschal mystery of her son.
Beloved catechists of Ghana and
all Africa: Christ calls you to his
service. The church sends you forth.
The pope blesses you, and he
commends you to the queen of
heaven. Amen.
CHIEF RECEIVES COMMUNION - Pope John Paul II gives
Communion to a traditional chief of the Baoule tribe during Mass in
Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
NC Documentary:
Pope’s Appeal For The Sahel
OUAGADOUGOU, Uper Volta (NC) - Here is an NC News translation of
Pope John Paul II’s appeal in French for the Sahel May 10 in Ouagadougou.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
1. “The poor and those in need seek water . . .1, the Lord, will answer
them ... I will turn the desert into pools . . .” (Isaiah 41, 17-18). “The water
that I shall give him wili become a fountain within him ieaping up to provide
eternal life!” (John 4, 14).
There is the lesson contained in the world of God that we have just heard-
there is the lesson that the Lord gives us!
1. I am the living water, the Lord said again, I am the fountain of water
which gives life. To draw from this source you have come here, this morning,
to listen to the word of God which is proposed to you by the one whom Divine
Providence has chosen to be the leader of his church, to be like St. Peter his
spokesman before all the faithful, in union with the bishops, the successors of
the apostles.
It is with a profound emotion that I look at you, my brothers and my sisters
of the church in Upper Volta. It is a desire of my heart that is realized today:
to come to give witness before you, in your very country, of the love of God
our father and of his son Jesus Christ, of his love for each of you. Is it not a
great joy which must fill our heart, to be able to say, to be able to proclaim
God loves me! Yes, God loves you, wherever you may be: in your cities, your
villages and your families, at the market as.upon the footpaths: God loves you
everywhere and always!
Your presence here also gives testimony of your affection for the church
which brings you this message of love. When I look at you, my heart is full of
pride, for I know that you have accepted the message of love with joy and
gratitude; for I know that you are attached to the church and that you want to
be witnesses of the Gospel with generosity and courage.
2. My stay among you will be short; too short for me, for I would have liked
to meet you everywhere, in your parishes, your schools and your homes; too
short also for you, for I know that many who would have liked to cannot be
here this morning, those who live far away, those who are sick or suffering,
those who mast work, and those who are still too small! To all those who are
not present, I say: The pope greets you and blesses you!
And I greet also with affection my brother Cardinal Paul Zoungrana, who
was one of the three first priests of your country and who is now the great and
faithful pastor of this Archdiocese of Ouagadougou. I greet with him my
brothers in the episcopate, as well as my brothers and sisters of all their
dioceses: Ouagadougou, Koupela, Bobo-Dioulasso, Diebougou, Fada
n’Gourma, Kaya, Koudougou, Nouna-Dedougou and Ouahigouya!
I would like to greet you one by one, my brothers in the priesthood, priests
whom the people of Upper Volta have generously given to the Lord, and
priests who have come from afar for the service of the Gospel among you. All
of you, brothers and sisters, catechists, who give yourselves with devotion to
your task of evangelization. And you, Christian women: on you too rests a
great part of the future and of its hopes for the church and for your people;
mothers of families and young girls, who are or who will be responsible with
your spouses for the formation of your children. I greet the elderly, the fathers
of families who work hard for them, the men, the young people and the
children. All of you, I greet you, you too who have come in such great.number
from Togo, I greet you, in the name of the love which unites us in one church,
in the great family of God!
3. In the Gospel to which we have listened together, Jesus speaks to us of
thirst and of water. He had stopped at a well, a deep well, which the patriarch
Jacob had dug with great difficulty for his family and his flocks. It is there that
they came to draw water. It is there that Jesus will meet a woman of Samaria.
She came to seek the water necessary for the needs of the house. She needed
water for her thirst, but, without indeed knowing it, she was still more thirsty
for truth, for the certitude of having, despite her sins, a place in the love of
God. She was thirsty for the word of Jesus and that life of the soul which he
alone can give us.
We are all, like that woman, thirsty for the truth which comes from God.
Truth about ourselves, about the meaning of our life, about what we can and
S
must do, from now on, wherever we may be, to respond to what God expects
of each of us, to truly become part of his family and to live as children of God.
I know your difficulties, and the extreme poverty of so many among you, and
also of your generosity in the service of the Lord, and that’s why, to you who
are children of God by your baptism and your membership in the church, I can
recall his word: “Seek first of all the kingdom of God and his justice”
(Matthew 6,33)! Yes, for us, Christians, that is the essential!
4. Nevertheless, in meditating upon the Gospel, we cannot forget that, if the
people of Samaria returned to their homes bearing in their hearts the word of
salvation, the water which springs up for eternal life, they also continued to
come to draw the water necessary for the life of their body. Men thirst for
love, for fraternal charity, but there are also entire peoples who are thirsty for
the water necessary for their life, in particular circumstances which are present
to my mind, now that I am among you, in this land of Upper Volta, in this
region of the Sahel. If the problem of progressive desertification is posed also
in other regions of the globe, the sufferings of the peoples of the Sahel which
the world has witnessed invite me to speak of it here.
From the beginning, God entrusted to man the nature which he had created.
To make creation serve integral human development, which permits man to
attain his full spiritual dimension, is to give glory to God. Man must strive
therefore to respect and discover its laws in order to assure the service of man.
Great progress has been made in the area of ecology, great efforts have been
made. But much remains to be done, to educate men to respect nature, to
preserve it and improve it, and also to reduce or prevent the consequences of
so-called “natural” catastrophes.
It is then that human solidarity must manifest itself to come to the aid of
the victims and the countries which cannot suddenly confront so many
emergencies, and whose economy can be ruined. It is a question of
international justice, especially toward the countries which are too often
stricken by these disasters, while others find themselves in geographic or
climatic conditions which must, in comparison, be called privileged. It is also a
question of charity for all those who consider that every man and every woman
is a brother and a sister whose sufferings must be borne and alleviated by all.
Solidarity, in justice and charity, must not know frontiers or limits.
5. From here, from Ouagadougou, from the center of one of these countries
which can be called the countries of thirst, may I be therefore permitted to
address to everyone, in Africa and beyond this continent, a solemn appeal not
to shut their eyes before what has happened and what is happening in the
Sahelian region.
I cannot retrace the history and the details of this tragedy: They are
moreover in all your memories. It would be necessary to evoke at least the time
taken to become aware of the drama caused by a persistent drought, then the
movement of solidarity which extended at all levels, local, national, regional
and international. Much was done, by the citizens and governments of
concerned countries as well as by various international institutions.
The church also had its large part; its activity was supported and followed
attentively by your bishops and by Pope Paul VI, who, anguished from the
beginning by the magnitude of the catastrophe, did not spare his appeals and
his support, in particular through the intermediacy of the Pontifical Council
“Cor Unum,” whose president I am happy to greet here, dear Cardinal
Bernardin Gantin, who was willing to leave his African native land and his
Archdiocese of Cotonou, in Benin, to come to work with the pope, in Rome.
Let us therefore thank, today, all those who devoted themselves, all those who
knew how to come to the aid of their brothers in need. May they one day hear
the Lord say to them: “I was thirsty and you gave me to drink” (Matthew 25,
35)! Through them, in fact, God gave the response to which we have listened in
the reading of this Mass: “I, I shall not abandon them” (Isaiah 41, 17)!
6. And nevertheless, how many victims were there for whom aid came too
late! How many youngsters whose development has been disturbed or
impaired! Now the danger has not been averted. From the beginning of those
painful events which constitute the drama of the Sahel, future conditions were
studied in your region on the intergovernmental level with the aid of the
United Nations, plans have been worked out to struggle against drought, its
causes and consequences, to aim at effective remedies such as irrigation, the
sinking of wells, reforestation, the erection of granaries, the introduction of
varied crops and others.
i
But the needs are immense if one wants to stop the advance of the desert
and even gradually to push it back, if one wants each man, each woman and
each child of the Sahel to have enough water and food, to have a future ever
more worthy of a human being.
7. That is why, from this place, from this capital of Upper Volta, I launch a
solemn appeal to the whole world. I, John Paul 11, bishop of Rome and
successor of Peter, raise my pleading voice, because 1 do not want to be silent
when my brothers and sisters are threatened. I make myself here the voice of
the voiceless, the voice of the innocent, who are dead because they had no
water and bread; the voice of the fathers and mothers who saw their children
die without understanding, or who will always see in their children the effects
of the hunger they have endured; the voice of the generations to come, who
must no longer live with this terrible threat weighing upon their life. I launch
an appeal to everyone!
Let us not wait till frightening and devastating drought returns! Let us not
wait for the sand to bring death again! Let us not permit the future of these
peoples to remain forever threatened!
The solidarity of yesterday demonstrated, by its extent and its effectiveness,
that it is possible to listen only to the voice of justice and charity, and not to
that of individual and collective egotism.
Listen to my appeal!
You, international organizations, 1 beg you to continue the remarkable
work already done,and to speed up the persevering implementation of
programs of action already worked out. You, officials of states, I beg you to
provide generous aid to the countries of the Sahel, so that a new, important
and sustained effort may still more effectively remedy the drama of drought.
You, non-governmental organizations, I beg you to redouble your efforts:
know how to arouse a current of personal generosity, of men, of women, of
children, so that all may know that the fruits of their privations really serve to
assure life and future opportunities for their brothers and sisters. I beg you,
men of science and technicians, research institutes, to direct your labors
toward the search for new means of struggle against desertification; would
science not progress as much if it were put at the service of the life of man? It
can and it must have other goals than the quest for new means of death,
creators of new deserts, or even the satisfaction of artificial needs created by
advertising. That is why I beg you also, you who work in the media of social
communication, journalists of the press, radio and television: Speak of this
problem according to its true dimension, that of the human person diminished
and mutilated. Without seeking useless effects, know how to show possible
solutions, what has been done and what remains to be done. Is it not a
beautiful task which permits you to awaken gnerositv and good will? I beg
everyone, listen to this appeal, listen to these voices of the Sahel and of all
countries victimized by drought, without any exception. And to all I say:
“God will pay you back!”
8. But I also want to speak particularly to you Catholic brothers of the
world, to those of the most favored countries. May they meditate on the well
known words of St. Vincent de Paul, one of the heroes of charity and love of
the poor. When he was asked, at the end of his life, what more he could have
done for his neighbor, he answered: “Still more.” It is the glory of Christian
charity, of that love which we have for one another and which is poured forth
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, to want to do always “more.” And that, is why
I say to you : Now, those who hunger and thirst in the world are at your door!
Modern means permit coming to their aid. You must not therefore rest
yourselves on national and international political responsibilities Beyond the
universal duty of solidarity, it is your faith which must lead you to examine
your real possibilities, to examine, personally and as families, whether that is
too often called necessary which in reality is superfluous. It is the Lord who
invites us to do more.
9. To all, I express my confidence. It is founded on that love of the Lord
which unites us, on our participation, in the immensity of the world, in his
unique sacrifice, since all of us eat the same bread and partake of the same
chalice (Cf. 1 Corinthians 10, 17).
May the Lord, to whom we are going to pray together and who is going to
come sacramentally among us so that we may receive him, make us progress in
his love and cause to spring up in all hearts the water of eternal life! Amen.
*
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