World Family of Radio Maria News - 16 ENG

Periodical of the World Family Radio Maria Association

Year IV – Issue 16 April - May - June 2016

Our Readers’ Generosity has a Name: Mariathon

“L

et’s help Our Lady help us!” These are the words that for four years now have accompanied Radio Maria’s worldwide Mariathon, which we celebrated again with renewed enthusiasm this May (10–15 May, 2016).

New projects, new needs, new energies to invest for evangelization in the world are the ingredients making up this year’s edition.

One aspect, however, has remained unchanged: the faithful generosity of our listeners! The support in prayer and the assistance through donations are the tangible signs of the fraternal love of each benefactor who has believed in Radio Maria’s project. It has been both a humble and yet ambitious project: we truly

serve the Church with humility and dedication in the ambitious spiritual desire to imitate Christ and to be missionaries of His Word, witnesses of His love.

At present we cannot quantify exactly how much has been collected from all the stations during this last Mariathon, but we certainly must reiterate our

Th

u o y ank ver

deepest and most sincere gratitude for each of you (listeners, volunteers, and collaborators) who, with a great spirit of sacrifice, have allowed Our Lady to touch the hearts of so many new men and women throughout the five continents.

We send our THANKS and through our PRAYERS we

! h c u m y

will remember you and your families, the beating heart of Radio Maria Raffaele Galati

Radio Maria Mariathon 2016 pg.

2

pg.

3

pg.

3

Mariathon Radio Maria in Iraq

Holy See WYD Krakow 2016

1

WF RADIO MARIA News

April - May - June 2016

Mariathon 2016: Africa’s Enthusiasm Having prepared with a continental conference and the Rosary, transmitted from the Shrine of Kibeho, Mariathon involved the 20 African stations in a moving competition of generosity—set to the sound of jingles!

C

reate an original jingle for Mariathon 2016: Malawi won the “challenge” that the 20 African Radio Marias decided to try their hand at during their annual meeting held in Ki-

gali, Rwanda on 16 and 17 March (see photo).

They spent two intensive days preparing for the continental Mariathon, which officially began on 30 April, with the Holy Rosary prayed

The World Family of Radio Maria: An Efficiently Growing Family

D

uring this past month of May, meetings were held by the World Family Board of Directors and subsequently by the World Family members, both convocations chaired by the new president, Dr. Vittorio Viccardi. During these meetings, the first results of the World Mariathon were released, which will allow us to carry out the eight proposed projects. At the same time, it was confirmed that this event enriched the vision and renewed the commitment of listeners around the world toward Radio Maria’s mission: to be a radio of evangelization and conversion.

Plans for the coming months focused on how to foster audience participation in the World Youth Day in Krakow in July and the Marian Jubilee planned for October at the Vatican through the channels of each Radio Maria station. These meetings allow us to grow as a family, effectively organized in the service of Mary.

Fr. Francisco Palacios

2

live from the Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho, Rwanda, where the local station is building a new site. Mariathon, which in many African countries is still ongoing, always holds beautiful surprises, true gifts from Heaven.

One of these was the moving encounter with a listener without limbs who asked for her bed to be carried to the current Radio Maria Rwanda station so that she might visit. Or the generous donation made by an elderly, poor woman who has been reduced to begging by the roadside to survive but who managed to save 30 thousand francs

to donate to Radio Maria Burundi. If the people’s enthusiasm has reached that point, then Radio Maria in Africa has a great future ahead of her.

Andrea Rottini

April - May - June 2016

News RADIO MARIA WF

The Project for a Radio Maria in Iraq

J

oseph Nassar, the World Family of Radio Maria’s continental representative for Asia and Oceania, visited the city of Erbil, Iraq together with the president of Radio Maria Italy, Emanuele Ferrario.

Joseph, you and the President of Radio Maria Italy made an important visit to the Middle East.

Can you tell us about your experience and the purpose of the visit?

Yes. Initially I went to Jordan, then Egypt, and then Lebanon on the occasion of the Mariathon where I met with President Ferrario to develop the twinning project. We then left together for Iraq, specifically Erbil, for a World Family of Radio Maria project that had already been announced but

that has yet to emerge. We visited the area of Erbil to evaluate all the aspects for a Radio Maria Iraq, like the other Radio Maria stations around the world.

How did this project come about?

Initially, the project began as a point of reference and connection between the mobile station of Radio Mariam that transmits from Rome for all Arabic-speaking Chris-

tians and its connections throughout the Arabic world.

It was precisely for this reason that I’ve spent the last three weeks in various Middle Eastern countries where some are already transmitting—Lebanon and Jordan for instance—and others where they will begin very shortly—as in Iraq and Egypt. It has just become possible in Syria and other countries as well.

As we’ve already announced

The president Ferrario, and refugees camp in Erbil in the back drop.

to Radio Maria listeners, the conditions for establishing an autonomous Radio Maria in Erbil are favorable and President Ferrario, who has considerable experience in opening new Radio Maria stations around the world, joined me to study the feasibility of the project and the first steps in getting started.

Will it be easy to open a Radio Maria in Iraq?

We know that the situation in the area is difficult and very delicate. There are many powers in play and diverse political situations to respect in such a changing geopolitical situation. We entrust ourselves to Mary, Our Mother, who will not fail to help and guide us, particularly for this radio that is all Hers.

Jad Kanaan

WYD 2016. On the Way to Krakow

“B

lessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Mt 5:7).

The fifth beatitude is the theme chosen by Pope Francis for the 31st World Youth Day to be held in Krakow, Poland from 26 July to 1 August, 2016.

It will be a true “Youth Jubilee” at the home of St. John Paul II, the founder of the World Youth Days. Thousands of young people will come from all corners of the world to unite as one in the name of the Merciful Jesus. Poland is the land of Pope Wojtyla and

Sister Faustina Kowalska, but also of the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Pope Francis’ message is a strong warning that overcomes and alleviates the open wounds left by the political and cultural regimes that for years have unceasingly persecuted the Church. It will, therefore, be a World Youth Day filled with important messages and full of hope. They will be unforgettable days during which, as Pope Francis has stated, every young person will have the responsibility

of bringing “the flame of Christ’s merciful love into daily life and even to the ends of the earth”. Radio Maria will be present and will transmit the most important events of this

World Youth Day so that all young persons who cannot go to Krakow can be involved, and to continue to change people’s hearts, even those most distant.

Michela Burdino

3

April - May - June 2016

WF RADIO MARIA News

Stations Celebrating an Anniversary in these Months

E

very anniversary is an occasion to recall the dates and places of this great map of the airwaves that Mary is charting around the world

June On 3 June 1998, the World Family of Radio Maria was constituted to coordinate and provide support for the stations that were blooming from a seed planted in Italy.

The month of June marks

4

the anniversaries of Radio Maria in Ukraine (1 June 2010), in Mozambique (2 June 1995), and in Zambia (21 June 1999). On 1 June 1984, the World Family of Radio Maria’s sister station, the Voix de la Charité, was born in Lebanon.

July In July we celebrate the anniversaries of Radio Maria in Gabon (4 July 2009), Albania (19 July 2003), South

Tyrol (16 July 1997, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel), Hungarian Serbia (21 July 2006), and last but not least, Papua New Guinea (23 July 2007)—thus arriving in Oceania.

August August marks the anniversaries of Radio Maria in Panama (5 August 1998), Kenya (19 August 2008), and in Chile and Rwanda—both founded on the Solemnity of the Assumption, respec-

tively in 1996 and 2004 Finally, on 22 August 2014, the substation of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was born.

“A report goes forth through all the earth, their messages, to the ends of the world” (Ps 19:5). This verse seems to describe the joyous wave of evangelization that Radio Maria spreads to every corner of the earth.

Stefano Chiappalone

April - May - June 2016

News RADIO MARIA WF

Photo-collage Mariathon - Uganda Mariathon - Sierra Leone

Mariathon - Paraguay

Mariathon - Paraguay

Mariathon - Austria

Mariathon - Albania

Mariathon - Brasile Filippine on th ia ar M

Mariathon - Guatemala Mariathon - Guatemala Editorial Office: p. Livio Fanzaga; p. Francisco Palacios; Stefano Chiappalone; Raffaele Galati; Daniele Trenca; Michela Burdino; p. Charles Mutabaruka.

Periodical of the WFRM Association

Via Rusticucci, 13 00193 Rome roma.wf@radiomaria.org www.radiomaria.org 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�.

5