"PERFECTLY RIDICULOUS"
COMPLAINT AGAINST BROADCASTING DIREGTOR EVERY FACILITY PROVIDED FOR RELIGIOM (?.A.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 22. " The statement of Father Philip, of the Franciscan Order, in Auckland, that the Director of Broadcasting (Professor Shelley) ' flung contempt in the faces of the bishops and the Christian people of New Zealand,' is perfectly ridiculous," said the Rev. P. Gladstone Hughes, minister of St. John's Presbyterian Church, Wellington, commenting to-night on the trouble which has arisen in Auckland about the broadcasting of religious meetings. Mr Hughes is a member of the Central Religious Advisory Committee, but he made it clear that he was speaking only in his personal capacity. " The director has always been very courteous," Mr Hughes declared, "and has always tried to appreciate the standpoint of the churches and open the way to every facility for broadcasting religion. ' "In order that the people of New Zealand may place the controversy over the broadcasting of religious meetings in its true perspective, I would point out that there are three Dominion interchurch bodies in Wellington. First, there is the Dominion Executive of the Campaign for Christian Order, on which the Roman Catholic Church is not represented. Secondly, there is the Interchurch Council on Public Affairs. The Roman Catholic Church participates in this, as it does on the third, the Central Religious Advisory Committee. The second and third bodies are naturally located in Wellington, since it is the seat of Government, and they act in liaison between the churches and the Government and its Ministers.
" Bishop Simkin, of Auckland, and his supporters have already brought to a close the Campaign for Christian Order, working as a Dominion-wide movement under the leadership of a director and au executive committee. The director's term of office will end on January 31, and the Campaign Committee, with its Wellington executive, will cease to exist on the same day. " The Interchurch Council set up in Auckland under the chairmanship of Bishop Simkin evidently intends now to by-pass the Dominion Interchurch Council and also to by-pass the Central Religious Advisory Committee. The Director of Broadcasting meets the Central Religious Advisory Committee every month, and even more frequently, and questions of policy are discussed. The director does not act on religious matters without consultation with the committee. At present the Central Religious Advisory Committee and the Director of Broadcasting are considering the whole question of extra religions broadcasts on week-days, and by ' extra' is meant all broadcasts of religion over _ and above the regular morning devotional periods, with which there has at_ no time been any intention of interfering. " In view 'of the universal demand for greater unity among the Christians of all churches this is an amazing policy to be adopted by the official church leaders of Auckland," Mr Hughes concluded.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 25003, 23 October 1943, Page 4
Word Count
460"PERFECTLY RIDICULOUS" Evening Star, Issue 25003, 23 October 1943, Page 4
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