Radio Maria: a growing mission
Year II – Issue 7 – July-August 2014
Periodical of the World Family of Radio Maria Association
A
The meeting with several radio stations from the American continent on supporting the mission has ended
s we all know, the Radio Maria project worldwide develops and supports itself, not by advertising, sponsoring bodies, granting of promotional space in programmes or by co-operation with other institutions, but rather by Divine Provi-
I
dence, which communicates through the generosity of its listeners. In this way listeners arebothinvitedtoandhavethe opportunitytoparticipateinthe RadioMariamission,thanksto their offering. The offering refers not just to thedonationofsomethingmaterial (indeed in the Bible the word “offering” is found 323 times). It is the gift of self, which involves our whole being: time, commitment and sacrifices.
the Corinthians, who excelled in all things, “to excel in this grace of giving” (2nd letter to the Corinthians 8, 7-14).
Consequently,theWorldFamilyisorganisingcoursestohelp the Radio Maria stations worldwide to motivate, direct and assist the participation of listeners in their self-financing mission. The World Family, in association with the Equipo de Formación Continental Americano (EFCA), organAclear example is given to us ized a meeting in Guatemala by St. Paul, when he exhorts for the first week in July, at-
World Family receives a new calling
n early July John Farhat, former secretary to the Bishop Luigi Padovese, visited the office of the World Family in Casciago (Italy). In 2010, John had started a radio with Bishop Padovese (killed in the same year), broadcasting two hours a day on an FM network which covered all the south-eastern area of the Country. The project came to a halt following the killing of the Bishop. The idea now is to set up a Radio Maria station in the country starting with a web radio for the 100 thousand Christians present in Turkey. Besides these there are thousands who have taken refuge in Syria and Iraq in the diocese of Iskenderun. This Turkish city is one of the places where the Christians are persecuted, tortured and even killed
for their strong Christian faith. In 2006, Father Andrea Santoro was gunned down in his parish church of Trabzon. On that occasion the Bishop of the diocese, Mons. Padovese declared that “this is no casual murder. This place is teeming with fanatical Islamists”. The evangelising activity of the radio, begun by John and Mons. Padovese, shared moments of prayer, catechesis and children's programmes. During the visit John was able to develop his knowledge on the identity of Radio Maria, by meeting the President of World Family Emanuele Ferrario and the General Secretary Vittorio Viccardi. He has returned to Turkey and is currently assessing the project feasibility study for every sector: legal,
tended by staff of the Radio Maria stations in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and the same host country. In those two days, in addition to moments of prayer and training, there were moments to reflect on the different experienceswhichallowtodevelop an authentic “dynamism of inclusion” of all those who are able to tune into the Radio Maria frequency in the scope of its evangelising mission, so thatitnotonlykeepsitselfalive over time but also grows and spreads worldwide.
RM IN THE WORLD The first anniversary of RM India
page 2
EDITORIAL ADVICE editorial and technical. The Turkish Republic has more than seventytwo and a half million residents, the official religion of which is Islam, while Christians account for 0.2% of the population. This Christian minority needs a communication tool which can give them comfort and support in bearing witness to their faith every day… nothing better than Mary with her Radio. Fr. Francisco Palacios
Presenters and operators at the mixer
page 3
WEBSITEOFTHEMONTH The story on the RM websites continues
page 4
2
The First Anniversary of RM India JULY-AUGUST 2014
A year from the inauguration, Fr. Rafi takes stock of the situation and remembers where it all began
“The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made” (Ps.145:9).
W
e celebrate the first anniversary of Radio Maria in India, with our hearts overflowing with thanks.
Radio Maria India was the result of the inspiration of Rev. Fr. Francisco Palacios, when he was the priest director of Radio Maria Ecuador. In October 2008, the first delegation from World Family visited Cochin and studied the feasibility of Radio Maria India. The then bishop of Cochin Msgr.
John Thattumkal invited the World Family to India. That led to the birth of the Radio Maria India on Web and be-
came the first catholic web radio in Malayalam language.
The Radio Maria Association, was registered on the 25thMarch of 2011with Mr. Antho Sebastian Kochuparambil (President) and fr.Rafi Kootumkal (Director) Mr. Alex Francis Vallavanatt (Secretary) Mr. Tony Fernandez, Adv. Rosher. N.J Nellickal, Mr. Joseph Alumkal and Mr.Jaison.E.A, Ezhuthaykal (members). Later as per the Indian government law a com-
mercial company was registered as ‘ M a r i a Media’, Mr. B e n s o n Mendez and Mrs. Audry Edward (directors).
Initially Radio Maria India operated from Santa Cecilia Studios of the Diocese of Cochin. The new studio for Radio Maria was blessed and inaugurated on the 30th June 2013 by His Excellency Rt.Rev.Dr.Joseph Kariyil, the Bishop of Cochin and the Hon’ble Minister of State Prof.K.V.Thomas in the presence of the representatives of World Family.
The Radio Maria in Cochin has an On air Studio, Guest studio, Production Studio, a Prayer hall and office.
We are greatly thankful to almighty God and Mariathon donations worldwide which made possible the Radio Maria India studio project. A hundred of volunteers including priests, religious, and laity present our broadcasts of liturgical, catechetical, educational, human
promotional round the clock. Once in a fortnight a special programme live from Rome with Deltus and for Christmas and Holy week we do special programmes including live broadcasts from Vatican Radio Maria India is familiar to the listeners of web and social media.Our participation in the Expo in the year
of faith brought a lot of propaganda. We are now looking forward to an FM license. We are sure that the Lord will grant us it at its opportune time. 1.27 billion people will then listen to the voice of our Blessed Mother when Radio Maria India could cover the whole nation. Fr. Rafi Koottumkal Director RM India www.radiomaria.org.in
Presentators and operators at the mixer
T
Essential qualities: goodness of heart, competence and clear presentation Holy See
The Pope will visit South Korea in August
T
he Pope will visit South Korea from 14th to 18th August for the sixth Asian youth day. Pope Bergoglio has repeated many times that “Asia is a priority”. For this reas o n t h e Pope will be in t h e diocese o f Daejeon for the meeting with Asian youth, visit Seoul and beatify 124 Korean martyrs. Pope Francis’ visit will be the third of a Pope to Asia following the two by Pope John Paul II. The World Family of Radio Maria will assure this important event to all radios, through live streaming of the most salient events: the vigil and the Sunday mass with the young people. In the meantime, we accompany the Pope with our prayers so that the Lord may accompany him on this journey which has a great political as well as religious importance.
he presentator, whether they are lay people, clerics or consecrated people, are chosen and entrusted solely by the Director they report to. Presentators of prayer moments must show sobriety in their comments and moments of contemplation. The conductors of didactic programmes will speak to listeners – and with the listeners – preventing both superficiality and erudition as an end to itself. The three key qualifications of RM conductors are (in order of importance): goodness of heart, expertise in the issue handled and clear presentation. The Operators at the mixer manage everything that is required to put together and air the programme (microphones, headphones, jingles, signature tune, musical breaks, announcement and un-an-
nouncement, selection of listener ’s messages and communication through calls from the public at the pre-listening stage, msn, Facebook, chat, Skype) allowing the presenter to concentrate on the issue to handle and on the answers to give to listeners. The operator is the first listener of RM, so he involves himself in the development of the programme, to offer an excellent service at the mixer and in the choice of musical texts. Stefano Chiappalone
JULY-AUGUST 2014
3
Central African Rep.
Radio Maria: a bridge for peace
T
he commitment of Radio Maria in Africa is to promote the culture of reconciliation through programmes which educate the citizens to this value. We frequently read on the media about the conflicts and violence in the Central African Republic. Radio Maria was inaugurated in this country in 2007, in Bossangoa, but due to the conflict all the material was stolen. The idea for the moment is to start broadcasting again from the capital Bangui by late 2014. The audio and radiofrequency materials are already on site and they just need to be installed. This new station will have a very important task: to actively commit itself to build peace. A programming schedule which targets precisely the construction of peace. The country is experiencing a difficult situation: following the intervention of the French army, of the European Union and of the African Union, there is a transition government, as it awaits a more stable situation. The services are precarious and even the electricity in the capital is available only for a few hours a day; for this reason we have to consider the use of power generators to guarantee daily broadcasting. “We do not have to wait for peace to arrive – Jean Paul Kayihura, representative Radio Maria in Africa, told us - but rather we must be protagonists, so that peace can arrive through prayer and appropriate programmes.”
4
Website of the month: RM Bosnia
W
JULY-AUGUST 2014
e cordially invite you to visit the website of Radio Maria BosniaHerzegovina which features a homepage full of news on the life of the Church and on the Radio Maria programmes. The essential elements are clearly visible on the homepage, starting with the key to listen in streaming and the connections to the social networks, with two Facebook pages for the Sarajevo and Banja Luka stations. The programming schedule is updated on a weekly basis
T
and is visible from the homepage by means of a sliding window on the right; the programmes can be re-listened to and
downloaded onto your PC. We also mention a very detailed page on the various ways to work with the Radio Maria mission
through voluntary work. On the right side of the screen listeners can also participate in the surveys on the most popular programmes and on their favourite songs; a little further up there is the Director’s letter who, in his July thought on holidays, recommends not to forget Jesus during the summer, but rather to try and find true peace through Him who said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11, 28). Stefano Chiappalone
Radio Maria: a growing family
he Family of Radio Maria is growing and has reached Armenia, a small country of the former Soviet Union. The station is in the city of Gyumri and Fr. Anton is the Director of the web radio.
the images of the visit of the World Family delegates which took place last month. You can view it at this address. We invite you to share it with your contacts on the social networks.
On our YouTube channel Enjoy! you can find a video with WFRM ON YOUTUBE
WORLD FAMILY RADIO MARIA news periodical of the World Family of Radio Maria association a pag. 18 Editorial office: P. Francisco Palacios;
Stefano Chiappalone; Raffaele Galati; Daniele Trenca
We look forward to receiving your videos so we can publish them on our YouTube page. For further information write to: roma.wf@radiomaria.org
Via Rusticucci, 13 - 00193 Rome mail: roma.wf@radiomaria.org skype: wf.daniele.trenca The contents of this periodical (texts and photos) may be used in full or partially on the
websites, newsletters, social networks of RM. Always mention the source “WFRM News”
You can be the protagonist of
World Family News Send your ideas, proposals, suggestions to: roma.wf@radiomaria.org
The contents
will be published in the upcoming issues
CONTACT US!