Increasing communication with Hispanic Catholics in southeastern Wisconsin is the goal of the new one hour, Saturday morning Spanish language radio show Mensajero Católico launched by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in July.

Mensajero Católico, which airs at 7 a.m. on La Gran D, 104.7 FM, Racine, broadcasts an array of Catholic-centered news and entertainment. The program, hosted by Otilio Fernandez, a local business owner, features inspirational readings, religious music and Catholic community announcements of meetings, activities and events. The show began broadcasting Saturday, July 15.

“Radio is a primary communication media that Spanish-speaking folks come to depend upon to get news and entertainment,” Fernandez said. “My goal was to use an effective media tool and provide content that had a strong Catholic message.”

Fernandez’s desire to broaden the reach of the station was enthusiastically welcomed when he approached the archdiocese for additional funding and support.

“We always make sure information and letters released by the archdiocese are available in Spanish, but we really felt we could still do more to serve the Hispanic community,” Kathleen Hohl, archdiocesan communications director said. “When Otilio approached the archdiocese for help with funding his Spanish-speaking program, the archdiocese saw the opportunity to increase its outreach to the Spanish-speaking community.”

When La Gran D, formerly a country music station, changed to an all-Latin format, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place and a partnership among the archdiocese, Fernandez, and La Gran D resulted in the creation of Mensajero Católico.

“We labored with this project for nine months because we wanted to get it really right. Now we’re finally seeing the reward,” Hohl said.

The program aims to evangelize and help members of the Hispanic community live in their Catholic faith. According to Fr. Bob Stiefvater, vicar for Hispanic Ministry, many Hispanic immigrants come from small towns where everyone shares the same faith and values.

“The spirit of community and religious union can become fragmented in the big city for many of the newly arrived Spanish-speaking,” Fr. Stiefvater said. “Their faith can be challenged and they can easily drift away from their faith or find themselves attending services at other churches."

With this in mind Fernandez features a reading and reflections from the corresponding Sunday Mass. He also takes inspiration from the nationally syndicated Spanish program “Conozca Primero su Fe Catolica,” hosted by Fr. Pedro Nuñez, a Blessed Sacrament priest. In the program Fr. Nuñez explains the Catholic faith in a clear, straightforward manner. During the broadcast of Mensajero Católico, Fernandez attempts to better address questions related to the Catholic faith by posing and answering a different question each week.

“Sometimes people are scared to ask questions about the faith because they think they might appear unintelligent. I want to ask those questions for them,” Fernandez said.

The program is produced locally and funded through the Catholic Communication Campaign.