By Michael D. Wamble
STAFF WRITER

	Bishop-designate Listecki takes to the air during his radio days.

Decades prior to the debut of the archdiocesan radio show, “Catholic Community of Faith” (on WYPA, 820 AM), and years before the dynamic duo known as “The God Squad” of Msgr. Thomas Hartman and Rabbi Marc Gellman graced morning drive-time listeners in New York City, Father Jerome Listecki served as one-half of such a team in Chicago. Sort of.

“Every Sunday night I’d broadcast from 10 to 11 p.m. A rabbi followed my show from 11 to midnight,” the bishop-designate told The Catholic New World. “I loved the radio.”

Bishop-designate Listecki holds fond memories of his radio days, more specifically, his radio year 1978-79 at WIND, part of the old Westinghouse family of stations.

Looking back on his time before the microphone, the bishop-designate described the time as “a learning experience.”

“When you do a radio show, you have to put a lot of things together. I had a great opportunity to see the creative process at work and, with that process, see the Holy Spirit at work,” he said.

The bishop-designate, who earned a certificate of religious communication from Loyola University in New Orleans, expressed an interest in connecting the Catholic Church to Catholics active in the arts.

“In Chicago, besides the communication fields of radio, television and print, we have a real question about forming a Catholic Actors Guild in Chicago. We are not only ‘The Second City’ in lore, but I think we are becoming the second city for theatrical productions,” he stated.

“It would be wonderful to gather that talent together and maximize their identities as Catholics and assist them in their own spiritual quests as performing artists.”

While he may not see himself as a broadcast veteran, the bishop-designate said no matter what task was presented him, he approached it the same way—as a priest.

“I’ve never had a problem with wearing different hats. The one unifying thing is whether I was wearing camouflage carrying rank or behind a microphone, I was a priest. The priesthood has always been the unifying center.

“There’s never been any conflict as to if I’m a lawyer or a basketball coach,” said the bishop-designate. “I was all of those things, but I was all of those things as a priest.

“Radio,” he continued, “was a great experience for me.”

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