A new medium, called podcasting, has emerged at the beginning of the 21st Century that allows the Gospel message to be proclaimed from the rooftops, just as Christ commanded in the Gospel of Matthew: "What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops". I will address why Church communicators need to utilize this medium as part of the New Evangelization. Here are several points that I will raise:
* Podcasts - which are MP3 files that can be downloaded via the internet or onto portable devices, such as iPods - are inexpensive to produce and free to listen to.
* They have the potential to reach a wide audience, including anyone from across the world and especially young people, many of whom who get their information from new technologies.
* They allow listeners to listen to any show at their leisure: for instance, at their desk or while walking the dog.
* They allow for places that do not have Catholic radio stations to broadcast audio anyway.
* And they can turn any communication director, print journalist, lay person or priest into an instant broadcaster, including those who do not have a radio background. No elaborate studio is necessary, just a recorder, a microphone and a computer.
From priests' homilies to parish mission talks, from a bishop making a stewardship appeal to brief conversion stories, podcasts provide dioceses and parishes a creative and imaginative communications tool. Podcasts also humanize the Church; for instance, some shows may contain the voices of people you sit next to in the pews, whom you do not know, but whose stories of faith and encounters with Christ need to be proclaimed to encourage others on their paths to holiness.
