BY RUTH GLEDHILL RELIGION CORRESPONDENT  - November 5 1999

THE Archbishop of York called last night for characters in television soap operas to be sent to church to "put the Christ back into Christmas". Dr David Hope pleaded for television companies to take the opportunity on the eve of the new millennium to "tune in to the spiritual life of the nation." He said: "I hope, for example, that some residents of Coronation Street or EastEnders might just go to a Christmas service on screen this year."

Dr Hope, writing in the York Evening Press, said that as chairman of the Central Religious Advisory Council, which advises the BBC and ITC on religious broadcasting policy, he had an obvious interest in "the spirit and future of British television". He criticised the marginalisation of religious programming to the middle of the night when audiences are at their lowest.

"I hope that the millennium will mark a turning point in the attitude of the BBC and the independent companies in recognising that religious programmes are not only important but vital to the welfare and wellbeing of our nation. "They need to be broadcast in the prime-time slots than simply consigned to the margins where Sunday night becomes indistinguishable from the early hours of Monday morning." He said that he was not just referring to worship programmes such as Songs of Praise. "I am referring to quality programming about religious life, morality, prayer, meditation, human relationships, education and environment and so on. For all of these issues have a spiritual dimension and they all have potential programme power."

However, his words have come too late for the scriptwriters of the leading soaps. A spokesman for Coronation Street said: "We already have our storylines planned for the Christmas episodes and they do not include anyone going to church. They include family story lines and other things that revolve around Christmas. We are a drama that is there to entertain people. We do not get into forcing issues down people's throats."

An spokesman for EastEnders, where a vicar who was the brother of one of the leading characters has just left the soap, did not disclose whether there would be any Christmas churchgoing. "EastEnders recognises the importance of Christmas as a religious celebration as well as a family occasion, but it is not there as a platform for every interest group. Christmas is an important time of year and will be celebrated appropriately on EastEnders."

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The Church and the media - from the Catholic Media Service

The Catholic Church's relationship with the media has not always been an easy one. While recognising their potential benefits, the Church has often criticised sectors of the film industry, publishers and broadcasters; it has been particularly concerned about how they have reflected questions of morality and the influence they are able to exert.

The Vatican tried to counter the adverse affects of the media by publishing its own newspaper (L'Osservatore Romano); and, in 1931, it even set up its own radio station (Vatican Radio). In fact, successive Popes for almost 70 years have been prepared to use the broadcast media. Back in the 1950s for instance, Pope Pius XII regarded radio as a great opportunity to reach people

all over the world - his voice, "passing in sure and safe flight over the expanse of sea and land and even over the troubled emotions of souls, may reach men's minds with a healing influence" (Letter on cinema, radio and television, 1957).

By the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the Catholic Church was becoming quite enthusiastic about the opportunities afforded by the media. Documents used terms such as "marvellous technical inventions" (1963) and "gifts of God" (1971).