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CV NEWS FEED // Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in 2024 facilitated 22 Catholic radio projects in 19 war-torn countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe in 2024, according to a Feb. 12 report from the global Catholic charity.
“These stations are key to transmitting the voice of the Church and bringing hope, especially in countries affected by conflicts and wars,” according to ACN. “In many cases, they are the only contact between isolated communities on the five continents.”
ACN supplied equipment to establish and support the ongoing operation of Catholic radio stations in Lebanon, Lithuania, Guinea Bissau, Chad, Brazil, Kenya, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, the Philippines, Romania, Ukraine, Burundi, Chile, Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Kosovo.
In Burkina Faso, where jihadist violence has displaced nearly 2 million people, Radio Notre Dame in Kaya serves as a platform for peace and interreligious dialogue.
Father Alexis Ouedraogo, the station’s director, works to foster unity between Christians and Muslims. Fr. Ouedraogo explained that terrorism in Burkina Faso has long targeted places of worship, with extremists aiming to divide the Burkinabè people and incite conflict among them.
“My role is to strengthen dialogue between members of different religious denominations,” Fr. Ouedraogo told ACN. “This dialogue of life, for me, is our daily coexistence. This can lead us to establish relationships between each other and to serve each other and, by doing so, help us to live in solidarity.”
>> Priestly vocations in Burkina Faso grow despite persecution, terrorism <<
ACN’s assistance includes supplying equipment, supporting programming, building radio towers, and installing solar panels to maintain Catholic radio operations. In 2024, the charity committed more than $570,000 to the initiative, aiming to “give voice to the Church.”
In Ukraine, where war continues to devastate communities, ACN has provided support to Zhyve Radio, the official broadcaster of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, keeping the faithful connected despite the conflict.
In Haiti, radio stations enable the faithful to listen to the Word of God from home when gang violence makes attending church services impossible.
