By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Corporations, media outlets, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and religious institutions in the United States have all been affected by the economic crisis of the past few years. The Archdiocese of Miami has been not immune and like other entities has had to make difficult but necessary decisions in order to continue its mission which is always to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ.Over the years, Pax Catholic Communications accumulated a considerable debt, and sought both direct and indirect subsidies from the Archdiocese of Miami in order to finance its operations. In the past few years, due to serious financial problems, Pax Catholic Communications had canceled its transmissions in English and Creole. The budgetary needs of Radio Paz were no secret to anyone, especially not to our faithful listeners.
In order to reverse this situation, and rather than allow Radio Paz to close, a plan was put in place that was both fiscally responsible to the station�s supporters and donors and faithful to its mission. This plan included the expansion of an existing programming-partnership with EWTN�s Radio Cat�lica Mundial and an administrative reorganization of Radio Paz. As a result of the agreement reached with EWTN, Radio Cat�lica Mundial has made its Spanish language programming available to Radio Paz free of charge. The re-organization also resulted in the elimination of paid staff positions.
Reduction of staff was a very difficult but necessary decision. There is no easy way to communicate bad news. Each person whose position was eliminated was informed of that decision personally, thanked for his or her services and assured that the decision was made strictly for budgetary reasons. We are concerned about the well-being of our employees, and we are grateful to them, which is why each one was offered a competitive severance package that includes health benefits for several months.
Indeed, the implementation of such decisions is always stressful and emotional for all concerned, especially for those whose positions were eliminated. There can be a whole range of emotion and behaviors when one receives such unwelcome news � from passive acceptance and resignation to resistant, defensive and sometimes even threatening words and behaviors. That a few of the former employees have made disparaging comments about the archdiocese in the media is disappointing but perhaps not surprising since learning that one�s job has been eliminated can be unsettling.
The decision, as difficult as it was, was made for the sake of the mission of Radio Paz, coherent with our vision and desire to continue to evangelize through the radio. The restructuring of Radio Paz will enable the Archdiocese of Miami to keep the station on the air. We continue to depend on the generosity of our listeners and sponsors to provide quality Catholic programming in the Spanish language. We are committed to the success of Radio Paz and arduously working to achieve it. That is why I ask for your help in realizing the bright future we envision.
Most. Rev. Thomas Wenski
Archbishop of Miami
Jan. 13, 2011
