Archbishop Assails Catholic Talk Radio

MILWAUKEE —  The Catholic Radio Network plans to complete the purchase of 10 radio stations in September, but Milwaukee’s archbishop has given notice that the network’s talk-radio broadcasts are not welcome in his diocese.

In addition to a station in a Milwaukee suburb, the $57-million transaction includes stations in Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Kansas City, Mo.

Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, considered a liberal in church circles, believes talk radio is used more to ignite controversy than to seek truth. He also is concerned about the organizers of the San Diego-based network, who, he says, include conservatives with ties to Mother Angelica, founder of the Eternal World Television Network in Alabama, and the Rev. Joseph Fessio, editor of Ignatius Press in San Francisco.

“My feeling is we have enough divisions in the church. . . . I find some of the people involved, especially Father Fessio, have been very divisive, and I just don’t think we need that,” Weakland said. “Father Fessio . . . gives in far too much to bishop-bashing and has been very opposed to anything that the [U.S.] Conference of Bishops is doing.”

John Lynch, chief executive officer of the San Diego-based network, said he was shocked by Weakland’s decision. “I would hope that he would give us a chance to prove our worth. . . . I think he also should go back to the pope, who made a call last year to use the mass media to evangelize.”