For over 50 years now ACN has been supporting media-based evangelization, above all via radio. For the founder of ACN, Father Werenfried van Straaten understood very early on how the modern media could help in those remote and far-flung regions where distances were too great and there were too few priests, by ‚bringing the Church to the faithful‘ in those places where the faithful could not get to church.
In Africa especially, radio is a medium ideally suited to this purpose, reaching the people especially in those remote and inaccessible parts of the continent and thereby playing a vital role, not only in spreading the Faith but also in the field of education, development and agriculture.
In Burkina Faso diocesan radio stations have been established for 10 years now, and today 12 of the country‘s 15 dioceses have their own radio transmitters. However, the bishops‘ conference has decided to merge all these different stations together, since given the numerous problems the country is facing, they now see the need to unite all their energies and pool their resources together.
The presence of radio is particularly important in the north of the country where the recent terrorist attacks and killings have left over three quarters of 1 million people homeless and caused more than 1000 schools to close, spreading chaos and insecurity among the people. In these crisis regions radio is a crucial means of reaching the people and accompanying them, strengthening them in their faith, keeping them informed and helping them with practical advice and counsel as they struggle to rebuild their lives, and at the same time continuing to provide at least a minimum of education to the children and young people. Radio is also a vital means of promoting peace and reconciliation.
More recently of course, the coronavirus pandemic has still further underlined the importance of the role played by local radio, helping to inform people as to the best way of protecting themselves from the virus. And, last but not least, it plays a crucial role in enabling people to join in the celebration of the Liturgy and pray together across the miles that separate them.
ACN is contributing 10,000 Euros towards the establishment and improvement of this Catholic radio service
Code: 125-00-69
