Radio Maria, an international Catholic radio station already operating in 83 countries — including 27 in Africa — is to get its first South African branch. The station is currently being set up in the chancery of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, which is behind St Mary’s Cathedral.

Founded in Italy in 1983, Radio Maria has grown into one of the world’s largest Catholic radio networks. It now has 94 civil associations spread across 83 countries: 31 in Europe, 24 in the Americas, 27 in Africa, and 12 in Asia and Oceania. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and reaches a potential audience of more than 723 000 000 people worldwide. The Radio Maria global network is guided by The World Family of Radio Maria.

The initiators of Radio Maria South Africa met with interested volunteers on Tuesday 2 June. José Manuel Díez Quintanilla from World Family, along with the South African team, Errol Pillay (Operations and Business President) and Fr Michael van Heerden (Priest Director), Ingrid Kalie-Moses (Coordinator) and Karen Pillay (Volunteers) addressed those who attended.

“Radio Maria allows us all to collaborate with the [Catholic] Church in the call for evangelisation and response to the needs of our times,” said Pillay. “Scripture, 1 Corinthians 9:16, says, ‘Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.’”

Call for volunteers

The network is run largely by volunteers, described by Radio Maria as “the beating heart” of the organisation.

Volunteer roles at the station may include:

• Presenting and helping to produce programmes
• Working at the station’s headquarters
• Managing the virtual telephone switchboard
• Promoting the station in the community
• Prayer

What Radio Maria broadcasts

Programming at Radio Maria stations is built on five key pillars:

• Liturgy and prayer — including more than six hours of live prayer content daily
• Theological and doctrinal teaching, covering the Catholic Catechism, Scripture and Church history
• Pastoral care and evangelisation, including testimonies of conversion and outreach to people of no faith
• Human-interest content covering medicine, psychology, law, the arts, sport and the environment
• News and special broadcasts, including coverage of papal ceremonies and international Church events
• What makes Radio Maria different is that the station does not accept advertising or sponsorships.

About Radio Maria

Radio Maria was founded in Italy in 1983.

Key milestones in the station’s history include:

• 1993 — First African station launched in Burkina Faso
• 1996 — First Latin American station launched in Peru
• 1998 — The World Family of Radio Maria was established to coordinate national stations
• 2002 — First Asian station launched in the Philippines
• 2007 — First Oceania station launched in Papua New Guinea
• 2015 — First Arabic-language service launched
• 2021 — First Mandarin-language service launched

Radio Maria South Africa will officially start broadcasting by the end of 2026.

“For now we humbly ask for prayer as we prepare the soil with volunteer engagement and preparation, along with infrastructure set up,” Pillay said.

How to get involved

For more information about volunteering at Radio Maria Cape Town contact the station manager Kalie-Moses on 082 351 3239.

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