Religious Media in a Secularized Society: The Case of Radio Shalom in Montreal

Canada and even more so Quebec have gone from a heavy presence of the Catholic Church (in charge of public education) to a secular society (ban on religious attire in public occupations). Religious groups adjusted to this situation and opened their own media, mostly weekly and monthly papers. For the Jewish community, the major source of information was the weekly Canadian Jewish News. Jewish radio programs that proliferated in France were only marginal in Canada.

In 1998, a private member of the Jewish community who worked for the Rabbinat Sepharade du Québec decided to open, on his own, Radio Shalom, emitting non-stop, except Shabbat. Radio Shalom declared it would keep its independence and would promote Orthodoxy and Israel. The major fundraising organization in Montreal, the Combined Jewish Appeal, refused to contribute in any way. After 18 years of financial struggle, Radio Shalom was taken over, in 2016, by Radio Gospel, a Christian Evangelical Group. The new owner provides, daily, 6 hours to Radio Shalom.

This continuing saga is a case study of unexpected and often contradictory consequences for all the actors.

a. The secular State has an institution that distributes the right to use public waves and therefore to determine which groups, within a religion, will be granted this right.

b. Major religions, such as the Catholic Church, and religious- social organizations, such as CJA,are opposed to competition from within their ranks.

c. By using laws and regulations, small religious groups are able to maintain and , eventually, increase their public exposure against the wishes of the major institutions.

d. The message of both Radio Gospel and Radio Shalom is much more religious that what dominant religious structures would adhere to in a secularized society.

e. The most unexpected consequence is that a radio station , conceived and animated by a determinate individual, has succeeded, against all odds, in a global atmosphere of secularism, to normalize a Jewish religious presence in the local media.