SM Global Report: Fr. Roderick, The Podcasting Priest

A Daily Breakfast of Fun & the Human Condition

         

 

I seem to have a lot in common with Father Roderick, the Dutch podcasting priest. We both have a fascination with technology, yet we both are more interested in how to use technology for story telling than for love of source code and silicon. We also both love to write about our travel experiences and the people we meet and we both find ourselves more than a little concerned with the human condition. Sometimes, we use humor, to lightened our subject matter.

There are two essential differences in us. First, from my perspective, his collar is juxtaposed and my in is not.He's also more prone to wearing black than I am. Second, he is an extremely good podcaster, while I have learned to stick with text. Father Roderick is in my opinion, is among the best there is in mass audience podcasting, and trust me, you need not be Catholic or religious to enjoy his highly entertaining Daily Breakfast shows.

My point of these comparisons is to point out something, that he reveals almost daily. People everywhere are pretty much alike, even if our diverse cultures sometimes make that hard to see. The technology we both use, however, lets more people understand the similarities of each other.

This guy is entertaining, conversational, observant and every morning talks with a diverse group of people on current events ranging from travel, to the causes of the sinking American economy. I have been an irregular listener to the most recent of his more than 550 Daily Breakfasts and have almost always walked away in a good mood with a new interesting or useful insight.

Father Roderick has been active in podcasting since the pre-historic year of AD 2001. He is founder of the impressive and effective SQPN, Catholic podcasting network and 100s of thousands of people tune in to him every morning. I suggest you go listen to a few of his Daily Breakfast episodes, now. then come back to hear his

1. Where were you born and raised? When and why did you decide to become a priest? What was your assignment prior to starting SQPN?

I was born in Leidschendam, not far from The Hague in the Netherlands and was raised in Bleiswijk, a town in the middle of a region dominated by polders, windmills and greenhouses. I went to school in the fast-growing, modern city of Zoetermeer, and contemplated various careers: comic-book artist, writer, movie director, computer game programmer, lawyer and even army officer. 

The idea of the priesthood never even entered my mind: although I was brought up in a Catholic family, I always thought of priests as old men, out of touch with modern culture, leading a life that couldn't be further away from my ambitions and dreams. As an altar boy, my thoughts during Mass often drifted to galaxies far, far away, where I would fight evil as a Jedi knight instead of paying attention to what was said by the priest.

All that changed around the age of 17, when I was challenged by my classmates and teachers to explain why I still went to Church, and I started to read and study what this Catholic Church was all about. My curiosity quickly evolved into fascination: beyond the appearances of an old, dusty institution I discovered a living, active, worldwide community with an incredibly rich tradition and a balanced view on life and on modern issues. An international youth gathering in the French place of pilgrimage Lourdes triggered the idea of getting involved in this Church as a priest. 

I thought this vocation would mean a definitive farewell to my fascination with computers, movies and media. Little did I know that all this would be an important part of my work as a priest today.

2. Tell me how and when SQPN got started. What came first the Daily Breakfast or the network? Can you give me some sense of how big the SQPN and the overall Catholic media network is? How many shows, listeners, countries--any numbers you feel free to share.

In 2001, my bishop sent me to Rome, where I studied social communications at the Gregorian University, one of the oldest universities in the world. Although the university was old, their media formation was very modern. While studying mass communications, journalism, radio and television production and marketing, I realized that this was exactly what I needed to do: help the Catholic Church use modern media to communicate its message to the world. While speaking at a communications conference in the Vatican, news broke that Pope John Paul II had been hospitalized. Switching on my portable recorder, I ran to Saint Peter's square to find out what had happened, jumped in a cab to the hospital and recorded a report on the situation. The world had just been introduced to the medium of podcasting, and I decided to upload the file to the internet and create a series called the 'Catholic Insider'.

Encouraged by hundreds of reactions from all over the world, I returned to Rome to report on the final days of John Paul II, his funeral and the election process of Pope Benedict XVI. As a priest, I had access to areas and people that were out of reach for regular journalists. The success of these audio documentaries, with over 15,000 listeners per episode and lots of media attention from CNN to BusinessWeek inspired me to set up a network for Catholic media producers, the Star Quest Production Network (SQPN).

undefined soon offered more than 25 audio and video programs, reaching around 250,000 people each month. About 60% of the audience is from North America, 25% from Europe, and 15% from South America, Asia and Oceania.

Half our audience is not Catholic. Our listeners and viewers range from convinced atheists to Protestants to people with Jewish, Buddhist or even Muslim backgrounds. I now host two daily shows: The Daily Breakfast in English and Katholiek Leven in Dutch and I produce a number of other audio and video shows when I have time.

3. The SQPN website says your focus is to build, "bridges between the dominant popular culture of the Western world and the religious culture and tradition of the Catholic Church in order to reach an audience that has little or no relationship with that Church." Why?

The Catholic Church has always reached out to the culture in which it existed, often integrating its language and symbols and transforming the culture from within. Saint Paul's advise to "examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good" has given the Catholic tradition a consistent openness to the world outside its Church walls.

Social Communications studies show that in order to establish successful communications, you first need to have a common language. The problem of the Catholic Church today, is that that common language seems to have disappeared. There is a wide gap between the age-old culture of the Church and the popular culture in our western world. With SQPN, we try to bridge that gap by engaging popular culture with the same openness that the apostle Paul encouraged. Many popular movies and books contain symbols, events and themes that are inspired by the Christian tradition.

That is why we have a show like The Secrets of Harry Potter, or The Secrets of the Lord of the Rings. By explaining the deeper layers of these popular imaginary worlds, we try to show how a better understanding of the Christian inspiration in these books adds new value and enjoyment of these stories.

4. In a recent video episode, you are strolling atop the frozen Winnipeg River, joking about walking on water. In another, you are disappointed that a chapel on a cliff in Southern Portugal has a locked door, keeping tourists out. Do any of your quips get you in trouble with your superiors? How does the Vatican regard SQPN? What obstacles in the Church did you have to overcome to get The Daily Breakfast show going?

I have always enjoyed a lot of support and encouragement from the official Church. My bishop allows me to dedicate 70% of my work to Catholic media and Vatican Radio even started podcasting after I introduced them to the medium. The Vatican strongly encourages the use of the internet and modern communications to build community and to enter a dialog with society.

The only difficult aspect of our work is to find funding. Podcasting, internet video, blogging and social networking are very new phenomena, whereas many potential sponsors are still completely focused on the 'old', traditional media. It would be much easier to raise money for a magazine or a radio show than for the kind of productions that we make at SQPN.

5. You get an amazing array of live call-ins. Are they mostly American? Are they mostly Catholic? Are they screened before they come on air?  What makes you decide to give your listeners 30 seconds of croaking frogs in a storm-flooded backyard?

One thing that sets podcasting apart from more traditional media is the strong, interactive and personal relationship between the host and the audience.

Listeners to the Daily Breakfast are very involved with the show and quickly respond to any question or topic that I launch on the program. The majority of callers are from the US, but I also receive voice feedback from Canada, Europe and Australia on a regular basis.

I always listen to the feedback before I play it, so that I can respond in an adequate way to their questions or remarks. Two types of feedback are very popular: the bit at the start of the Daily Breakfast where listeners can share what is going on in their part of the world, and the Q&A segment about the 'Peculiar Bunch': the Catholics.

It is again, a matter of creating a common language. The more you know your audience and the situation in which they live, the better you will communicate. And the more my listeners get to know each other, the easier it will be to form an online community around the show.

I think that religion is a natural part of our daily lives, and not something that should be confined to specific days or places of worship. The Daily Breakfast is about everything that makes life interesting - from croaking frogs in a storm-flooded backyard to praying monks in a silent monastery.

6. What have you learned from your audiences? How has it changed you? How do you think it may change the Church?

Producing these audio and video programs has had a huge impact on my own communications as a priest.

Getting to know my audience, whether they are listeners in China or my own parishioners in Amersfoort, is of capital importance. Only when I know what people need and are searching for can I hope to contribute something meaningful to their lives.

Communication begins with listening. The same is true for prayer, by the way. I hope that our work at SQPN will lead the way in Catholic new media--that it will show the Church that there are more ways to reach out to the world than ever before.

New media creates new community. The social networking revolution reflects something that the Church has been doing for 2000 years--bringing people together around a common inspiration. Catholics have always used a wide range of communication tools to create these communities, from Bibles to newspapers to radio and television. Why not use the new digital tools as well? When pope Benedict XVI visited Vatican Radio some time ago, they gave him an iPod full of Catholic podcasts. If the Pope uses new media, hopefully the rest of the Church will follow soon.

7.  Do you see a lesson in this social media experience that may be applicable to business or other institutions such as government?

There are a lot of similarities between an old institution like the Church and other business or governmental institutions. The world is embracing new media at a very fast pace. It expects institutions and businesses to do the same. Interactivity, personalized media and social networking, international branding, flexibility, niche marketing and the ability and willingness to involve customers or target audiences in the process are of vital importance for the survival and the success of modern organizations. Any company or organization that doesn't embrace these changes in communication risks losing its audience. 

8.  How do you think SQPN will evolve in coming years? Describe what the network will look like five years from now?

I think that SQPN will continue to raise the bar in terms of quality and reach. Five years from now, I hope SQPN will have a collection of audio and video productions that can rival the best secular programs on radio and TV.

We will also work hard to get some of our best shows syndicated on existing radio and television channels. With about a billion Catholics on this planet, and an even larger potential audience, I am confident that we will be able to reach several million people on a regular basis. Most importantly, I hope that SQPN will continue to produce shows that will surprise people, challenge them to explore, to be curious, to get involved in a community, online or off line. When I look back at what we have been able to achieve in only two years, I have high hopes for the future.

The sky is the limit, or, in our case, heaven is :) .

NOTE: Special thanks to Bryan Person for pointing me to Fr. Roderick

Comments

[Bryan Person, LiveWorld]

What an outstanding interview, Shel. Glad I could help. I'm so impressed that the church truly recognize the importance of Father Roderick's work, and that it allows him to dedicate 70% of his time to new-media projects!

As a former Catholic, I find Father Roderick to be a welcoming breath of fresh air, and someone who can connect the teachings of the church to today's pop culture.

[Inge]

It thanks to Fr. Roderick I discovered that the Roman Catholic Church is not at all like the prejudices I was raised with by my Atheist parents. I love listening podcasts, social networks and thanks to all of this I came home on August 10th of this year.

It's that important to be out here.

[Jenna]

Hey Shel,

Awesome post. I just wanted to make you aware that there are tons of blogging/podcasting/twittering Christians all over. This weekend is the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA - which is all focused on using social media to spread God's word. There is also anti-porn sites like XXXchurch.com which is copying the way the porn industry is sharing their products, but these guys are sharing God's love instead. Pretty interesting stuff!

[Jenna]

Hey Shel,

Awesome post. I just wanted to make you aware that there are tons of blogging/podcasting/twittering Christians all over. This weekend is the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA - which is all focused on using social media to spread God's word. There is also anti-porn sites like XXXchurch.com which is copying the way the porn industry is sharing their products, but these guys are sharing God's love instead. Pretty interesting stuff!

[Evan Roberts]

Shel,

I had never heard of the podcasting priest before this and I must say, after listening to some of his shows, I am thoroughly intrigued! I'm not even Catholic but like you said, you don't have to be Catholic to enjoy the humanity of Fr. Roderick.

As a public relations student, it is great to see someone with such an amazing grasp of the power of social media and communication. Fr. Roderick's podcasts show a great understanding of how one person can inspire conversation and simple change. Thanks for posting this!

[Mary Flaherty]

Ah, I feel like I have just discovered a jewel this morning. Not only did I enjoy learning about and listening to Fr. Roderick, but I was completely absorbed reading your blog for the first time (led here by your Twitter post linking to your NH pics). Where have I been--under a rock? It's the most well-written blog I've come across. Time for another cup of coffee and the archives. Thank you!

[podcampsingapore]

although im not a catholic, i really enjoyed listening to his last show. thanks for the recommendation!