France: Radio Notre-Dame tunes in to the youth.

The first broadcast went out on Tuesday September 9, early in the evening, broadcast on Radio Notre-Dame and the network RCF (Radios Chretiennes de France, frequency 108 FM)

It’s about opening up the airwaves to young people between 15 and 25. Three presenters, a priest, a boy and a girl, will answer live questions about religion: “Why is it necessary to receive instruction before receiving adult baptism? Is it possible to live without God?” The musical breaks are borrowed from the “pop-louange” repertoire. The tone is deliberately relaxed, use of the familiar “tu” language is the rule. Fr. Guy Gilbert, the “hooligans priest”, a regular on Radio Notre-Dame, is to take part in a future broadcast.

This initiative is certainly aimed at reaching a public which is known to be extremely volatile. Once the euphoria of large gatherings such as World Youth Day has passed, how will they keep the young faithful?

This first emission leaves an impression of malaise. Indeed it bears a stange resemblance to the programmes destined for the same audience, on Fun Radio, NJR and Skyrock, veritable corruptors of adolescents. An ultra-“cool” boy and girl and a really “nice” priest, it smacks of “Doc” Christian Spitz and Difool, alias David Massart, minus the obscene vulgarity. The tone is just the same, between “ziques” (musiques - songs), they attempt a spontaneous “free style”, no-limits broadcasting. Hence, an obvious difficulty in giving serious answers to serious questions.