Writing in yesterday's edition, Fr. John Avellino expressed his disagreement with the Curia's decision on allowing Radio Maria (Malta) to obtain a nation-wide radio licence.

Radio Maria (Malta) took over the frequency of Radio Calypso around two weeks ago after purchasing the station from its owner, Fr Benedict Camilleri.

Fr Avellino said that as a result of this, RTK will be losing out on advertising revenue, which is needed for RTK to keep a professional standard in its programmes and full-time newsroom from 5 am to 9 pm everyday.

Fr. Avellino revealed that in the 12 years that RTK has been operating, it has never made profit and that the losses, which last year amounted to "thousands of Liri", were always borne by the Curia.

He warned that if RTK continues to lose listeners in the same manner it did last November, RTK might lose more revenue, thus increasing the burden on the Curia.

One has to say, though, that Radio Maria (Malta) does not take adverts but depends on the donations of its listeners.

"Who know, maybe will we hear one day that Radio RTK is going to close?," Fr. Avellino said.

RTK, he said, has always given space to everybody and reflects the vision of the Church since Council Vatican II, "not a Church that is cut out of this world, but a Church that lives close to man in the historical context of our times".

Radio Maria (Malta) is operated by a foundation whose spiritual director is Fr. Charles Fenech, prior of the Dominican Order in Malta and founder of the Kerygma Movement.

Fr Fenech told The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday afternoon that did not wish to comment "for the time being" about Fr Avellino's article in Il-Gens.

He said he was "not in a position to comment" about RTK's revenue. However, he said that Radio Maria (Malta) works through volunteers and is aided by the contributions of its listeners.

Radio Maria (Malta) started transmitting as a community radio from the Dominican Priory in Rabat in 1995, and has always had an ambition to go nation-wide.

An application for a nation-wide radio licence was filed with the Broadcasting Authority (BA) more than seven years ago.

However, the Curia has opposed having more than one nation-wide catholic radio station in Malta.

The decision was taken in 1991 when the Catholic Church was offered a temporary nation-wide radio licence alongside the MLP and the PN in March.

At the time, there was a debate within the church as to whether its station should be exclusively religious in nature on the model of the Italian Radio Maria , on which Radio Maria (Malta) is modelled, or of a more secular nature but with religious overtones.

The Church, under the leadership of then Media Centre head Fr. Joe Borg, opted for the first option following consultation with religious organisations in Malta.

However, the demand for a more religious-oriented catholic station which broadcasts Mass every day - something which RTK has never done -- was still not satisfied.

This led to the proliferation of a number of religious community radio stations operated by the parish churches to broadcast live all the daily church services.

It was in the context that the popularity of Radio Maria grew and grew as time passed. A petition presented to the BA in September 2003 calling for Radio Maria Malta to be granted a nation-wide radio licence was signed by more than 60,000 people.

The Kerygma Movement had already filed an application for a radio station before government offered it to the Catholic Church in March 1991.

However, in a statement it withdrew the application following the Archbishop's comments that the Curia would have preferred having a single catholic station in Malta.