Broadcasting “ecumenism” not convincing for Catholics
Isaac TV is Pakistan’s first Christian satellite broadcaster. Pentecostal-run, it wants to let Catholic leaders “use our platform”. However, for the programme director of a Lahore-based Catholic cable station, it is better to keep a distance.
Lahore (AsiaNews) - The idea to boost the Catholic presence on a Pentecostal satellite channel that broadcasts across Pakistan has not convinced Catholic Church leaders.
Saleem Iqbal of Isaac TV told AsiaNews that Church leaders should use all platforms to reach out to minority Christians.
“We welcome the Catholic bishop of Lahore and different priests to use our platform” even though “they do not give Pentecostal pastors the chance to appear on their channels. The Church has a long history and must expand its horizons; they need not be afraid of us”, he said.
The 24 hour Christian evangelical TV channel is broadcast in more than 70 countries. Eternal Life Ministry chairman Rev Anwar Fazal started the cable station in 2004 with a Wednesday show, but has expanded his considerable audience since then.
Since 2012, Isaac TV has pumped out on prayer services, personal stories, interviews with well-known Christian leaders, gospel music, movies and similar talk shows from Hong Kong. Iqbal claims the channel receives millions of prayer requests every month.
In Pakistan, the country’s Christian minority gets very little airtime on public stations. At Christmas, Catholics and Protestants get 30 minutes each. At Easter, this drops to 15 minutes.
On satellite, Isaac TV competes with 11 Islamic TV stations, but so far, Catholics have not been able to keep up.
Karachi Archdiocese launched Good News, Pakistan’s first Catholic satellite television, in 2009, but pulled the plug the following year. It now operates only as a web TV.
A Lahore-based TV is the only Catholic-run station, but it is limited to local cable service. Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi unveiled another online Christian channel this March.
Fr Morris Jalal, the founder and programme director of the Lahore-based Catholic TV, expressed appreciation for Isaac TV’s pioneering work, but stressed the need to keep a distance.
“Basically, they invite us to set a big show with Catholic leaders and attract more congregations and donations; it is just for business purposes.”
“People will find it hard to distinguish between Catholic Church and other ministries after seeing our faces on non-Catholic channels”, he explained.
Still, the Pentecostal TV channel does pose a big challenge to the Catholic Church.
“I should give credit where it’s due,” Fr Jalal said. “They survived among other professional channels but our channel didn’t work. They are strong opinion makers. We have to do more for faith formation and evangelisation and take it seriously”, he added.
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