The Salesians of Don Bosco who are in India for 110 years, recently ventured into an uncharted territory to serve and interact with the local folks better. “Radio Salesian, 90.8 FM – Voice of the Hills,” is the new enterprise of Salesian College Sonada in Gorabari near Sonada town, in the Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling District in India’s West Bengal state. The web version of the community/campus radio, that one can listen to online at www.salesiancollege.in, was inaugurated on Oct. 28. And its FM radio will be officially inaugurated on Dec. 8. Salesian priest, Fr. CM Paul, is the brain behind and director of Radio Salesian. Last week, in the first part of a telephone interview, Fr. Paul explained that Radio Salesian is the first community/campus radio run by a college in West Bengal and in the entire northeast India. It’s also the first and only radio by the Salesians in the whole of South Asia....
The Salesians of Don Bosco who are in India for 110 years, recently ventured into an uncharted territory to serve and interact with the local folks better. “Radio Salesian, 90.8 FM – Voice of the Hills,” is the new enterprise of Salesian College Sonada in Gorabari near Sonada town, in the Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling District in India’s West Bengal state. The web version of the community/campus radio, that one can listen to online at www.salesiancollege.in, was inaugurated on Oct. 28. And its FM radio will be officially inaugurated on Dec. 8. Salesian priest, Fr. CM Paul, is the brain behind and director of Radio Salesian.
Last week, in the first part of a telephone interview, Fr. Paul explained that Radio Salesian is the first community/campus radio run by a college in West Bengal and in the entire northeast India. It’s also the first and only radio by the Salesians in the whole of South Asia. The idea of a community radio first came up in 2000 during the provincial chapter of the Salesian province of Kolkata. In 2012, Salesian College Sonada officially applied for a broadcast license, which required a slew of formalities, permissions and clearances from various ministries and offices of the Indian government, given the fact that Bagdogra Airport, military and air force installations as well as Nepal border are not very far from Salesian College Sonada.
Fr. Paul explained that Radio Salesian is a truly community radio, the voice of the people - a radio of the people, by the people and for the people. Most of the programmes are produced by the local Nepali-speaking villagers in the extensive tea gardens of Darjeeling. Radio Salesian thus invites contributions from students, community groups, self-help groups, children, young people, seniors, labour class, women’s associations, entrepreneur groups, and others.
Being a community radio, Radio Salesian has to comply with several government norms and regulations. It cannot engage in politics and religion, it cannot broadcast news per se - only community-based information, and must promote community peace and harmony. It does this by giving space to every religion in the form of devotional hymns. Radio Salesian also has a bit of Hindi and English in its programmes. Today, Fr. Paul begins the final part of this interview explaining the content of the Hindi and English programmes.
Facade of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons / EEJCCACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).One year after the Spanish newspaper El País published the report "Diary of a Pedophile Priest," which recounted the sexual abuse of minors committed in Bolivia by the deceased Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas, journalists from ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, went to the South American country to look into the political implications of the case, how the scandal has affected the Church's image in Bolivia, and the response of the civil justice system.Pedrajas, better known as "Padre Pica," arrived in South America in the early 1960s as part of his formation process with the Jesuits. For 10 years he lived in Peru and Ecuador, where he allegedly committed his first abuses while still a seminarian, and in 1971 he settled permanently in Bolivia.There the Society of Jesus appointed him assistant principal of the John XXIII Insti...
The members of the general board of directors of the Regnum Christi Federation, before its first general convention from April 29 to May 4, 2024, in Rome. / Credit: Regnum ChristiACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).The Regnum Christi Federation will hold its first general convention in Rome from April 29 to May 4, the first such assembly since its statutes were approved in 2019 after a long process of listening, purification, and a hopeful look toward its future.The ecclesial movement was shaken to the core by the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse and abuses of power primarily involving Father Marcial Maciel, the deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.The Regnum Christi Federation is comprised of four vocations: the Legionaries of Christ (priests), Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members.Regnum Christi is now defined as an apostolic body and spiritual family led by ...
Gia Chacón (right), founder of March for the Martyrs, said the plight of the tens of thousands of Christian Armenians pushed out of their homes in the disputed Artsakh or Nagorno-Karabakh region hash been "completely overlooked by the mainstream media." / Credit: EWTN News Nightly / ScreenshotCNA Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:20 am (CNA).Marchers are setting out in the nation's capital on Saturday to call attention to the plight of persecuted Christians throughout the world.Gia Chacón, founder of For the Martyrs and the March for the Martyrs, said the event aims to highlight often "overlooked" victims of persecution. This year's march will focus on the persecution suffered by Armenian Christians as well as those in Nigeria and Iran.In an interview with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Tracy Sabol, Chacón said she started the initiative to both increase awareness and provide aid for persecuted Christian communities throughout the world.Chacón explained that the decades-long conflict ...