WORLD FAMILY OF RADIO MARIA
What is Radio Maria?
Radio as an instrument of conversion By its very nature it is a missionary instrument as St. Paul says, “faith comes from what is heard” (Rom 10:17).
Father Livio Fanzaga WFRM Directors’ Advisor & RM Italy Director
G
od chooses the simplest tools to reach people. He used a book to communicate his Word and preaching to spread it. Radio lies within the perspective of spreading the word. Certainly, the instrument of the radio bears a voice that, from the mouth of the speaker, reaches the ears of those listening: fides ex auditu, “faith comes from what is heard” (Rom 10:17). Proclaiming the Word of God was the great means used by Jesus Christ and the apostles: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:15–16). Radio is a simple and effective means for propagating the Gospel. Technological evolution has made it a capillary tool that reaches people wherever they are. By its nature, radio is a missionary instrument. The voice reaches the heart and challenges it. Under the
impulse of grace, it becomes an instrument of conversion. When the Radio Maria adventure began in 1987, no one could have imagined the current panorama, with 81 radios and 19 local language stations planted throughout the continents with a following of around 35 million listeners and 20,000 passionate volunteers. Looking back, those of us who have walked this path from the beginning are amazed and wonder how a project of such magnitude could ever have been accomplished. The wonder is even greater when you think that everything has been accomplished without radio experts and without funding that was not offered by listeners, constantly navigating through troubled waters according to the rule common to all things from God. The spirit of Radio Maria cannot be fully understood if one tries to merely define it
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