Radio Maria ( es, Radio María; pt, Rádio Maria; hr, Radio Marija; mt, Radju Marija; lt, Marijos Radijas; hu, Mária Rádió; russian: Радио Мария; uk, Радіо Марія; nl, Radio Maria; known in Germany as ''Radio Horeb''), formally known as The World Family of Radio Maria, is an international Catholic radio broadcasting service founded in Erba,

province of Como The Province of Como ( it, Provincia di Como; german: Provinz Como; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Le ...

, in the

diocese of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has l ...

, Italy, in 1987. The World Family of Radio Maria was formed in 1998, mainly based on the

Our Lady of Medjugorje Our Lady of Medjugorje ( hr, Međugorska Gospa), also called Queen of Peace ( hr, Kraljica mira) and Mother of the Redeemer ( hr, Majka Otkupiteljica), is the title given to visions of Mary, the mother of Jesus, which began in 1981 to six Herze ...

apparitions and messages, and today has branches in 86 countries around the world. Its mission includes

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

catechesis Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

, devotions, prayer, spiritual assistance with everyday issues, information, music, and culture.

History

Its first broadcast facility was from a parish in Arcellasco d'Erba (

, Italy), but in 1987 it became a separate entity outside its home parish as an association of lay people and priests as Radio Maria Italia. In less than five years, it grew into a national Catholic radio network throughout Italy. Though not directly connected with the Roman Catholic hierarchy, it was founded as an instrument of the Church and as a tool for evangelization, implementing and adhering to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Initially it was inspired by the appeals made by the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

in Fátima, Portugal, and in more recent years based on the Marian messages from

Medjugorje Medjugorje ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Međugorje, Међугорје, ) is a town located in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, about southwest of Mostar and east of the border with Croatia. The town is part of the Čitluk municipality ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina, pleading for worldwide conversion. As such, Radio Maria is not subsidized or funded by the Roman Catholic Church; instead it is underwritten by listener contributions. World Family of Radio Maria

In 1994, the principal founder don M.

Galbiati Galbiati is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Delfi Galbiati (1944–2015), Uruguayan actor *Enzo Galbiati (1897–1982), Italian soldier and fascist politician *Italo Galbiati (1937–2023), Italian footballer and mana ...

left Radio Maria and founded Radio Mater, also in Arcellasco d'Erba, as a totally separate entity. Since 5 September 1994 transmissions started in

Albavilla Albavilla ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about east of Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, C ...

in the province of Como. The Liturgy of the Hours is diffused in the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

. Radio Mater is broadcast via radio in Italy, in Europe via satellite (

DVB-S Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite (DVB-S) is the original DVB standard for Satellite Television and dates from 1995, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997. The first commercial applications was by Star TV in Asia ...

Hot Bird Hot Bird (also styled HOTBIRD) is a group of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13 °E over the equator ( orbital position) and with a transmitting footprint over Asia, Europe, North Africa, Americas and the Middle East. Only digital r ...

), and worldwide via Internet ( WMP). Radio Maria Studio in Adliswil

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The World Family of Radio Maria was formed in 1998 out of its subsequent international growth in the 1990s, and pursuant to the 1987 speech by Pope John Paul II in

Saint Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Bot ...

addressing the need for a new evangelization. Emanuele Ferrario (inspired by the Pope's words to form a new evangelization) is the founder and president of Radio Maria, Inc., which has since grown into an association of 40 multilingual broadcast operations in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Overall, Radio Maria operates approximately 1,500 radio transmitters worldwide.

Radio Maria USA

Its United States of America operation is one of the newest to join the World Family, in May 2000, with

KJMJ KJMJ (580 AM), also known as Radio Maria USA, is a Catholic American radio station broadcasting from Alexandria, Louisiana. It is the originating station of The World Family of Radio Maria's US operations, airing Catholic programming including ...

(AM) in Alexandria, Louisiana, being the originating English-language station, together with a network of several FM and AM repeaters in Louisiana, an AM station in Port Arthur, Texas, on 1250 AM (

KDEI KDEI "Radio Maria" is an AM broadcasting station airing Catholic programming at 1250 kHz in Port Arthur, Texas. It is a repeater station of KJMJ 580 kHz in Alexandria, Louisiana. History In Brownsville KDEI's history begins not in Port ...

), and an FM repeater in Anna, Ohio. An AM repeater in Springfield, Ohio, east of Dayton, commenced broadcasting in June 2008 with new FM repeaters in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, coming on the air in June 2009, D'Iberville, Mississippi, and Peshtigo, Wisconsin, both in May 2010. Spanish-language and Italian-language programming is heard on FM

subcarrier A subcarrier is a sideband of a radio frequency carrier wave, which is modulated to send additional information. Examples include the provision of colour in a black and white television system or the provision of stereo in a monophonic radio broa ...

frequencies in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York City and Washington, D.C.. Italian-language programming can also be heard on the New York City FM subcarrier as well as French Canadian and English speaking services on FM subcarriers in Toronto, Ontario. Audiostreaming is available from most of these stations.

World Family of Radio Maria

Radio stations in Europe

Radio stations in Asia

Radio stations in Oceania

Radio stations in Africa

Radio stations in the Americas

Programming

Programming mostly consists of traditional Catholic worship music, but some stations also air a mix of traditional and contemporary Catholic music, along with various talk and teaching programs discussing the Catholic faith, frequent recitals of the Holy Rosary, novenas, and Masses.

Facilities

Radio Maria's programming mostly emanates from one centrally located studio or station in a given region or country, and is then re-broadcast (or "simulcast") on a network of repeater transmitters on the AM and FM bands. Some employ the use of a

, also known as SCA (for " Subsidiary Communications Authority") facilities of FM stations, requiring the use of a receiver designed to receive SCA signals. Since the emergence of the internet, audio-streaming has been used extensively as a means to help fill in gaps left by the unavailability of AM or FM frequencies in metropolitan areas already taken up by commercial, public, or other religious broadcasters. Starting in June 2008, there have been

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

transmissions originating from Italy at 26 MHz and at 26.01 MHz DRM making it the only (and last) shortwave service originating in Italy besides Vatican Radio. There are presently no commercial satellite radio subscription services (such as Sky Digital, Sirius or XM) of Radio Maria. However, its Spanish-language, Italian-language, and Polish-language stations may be available in some areas served by the Dish Pronto division of

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

, a satellite television subscription service.

References

External links