Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to Radio Maryja

Reverend
Father Provincial
Janusz Sok C.S.S.R.
Superior of the Warsaw
Redemptorist Province

The Holy Father Benedict XVI, in spiritual
communion with the participants of the ceremony of the XX anniversary of the
Radio Maria, sends trough me to the Father Provincial a greeting and an
apostolic blessing to the Founder and the Director of the Radio – Father Tadeusz
Rydzyk, all the ecclesiastic and lay employees, volunteers and those who thanks
to this catholic broadcaster strengthen their faith on their way to God.

Radio Maria was erected in Torun by the Bishop
of Chelm, on the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8th December
1991. During this rather difficult period of leaving the system that negated the
freedom of speech and imposed the government’s monopoly in distribution of
information, there was a necessity to create the new, catholic media that could
reach everyone with the message of Redemption and with the reliable information.

Blessed John Paul II was thinking in this way.
He addressed to you these words: "There is a great necessity to proclaim the
Gospel in our Homeland. People are in a need of an authentic word. Word that
builds and not divides, word that brings confidence to the anxious hearts. Word
that is pure, simple, proclaims love and truth. The message of Redemption is
that kind of word. This is Christ Himself. And you are the spokesmen of this
Word".

The Pope, your compatriot, confessed also: "I
would like to say thank you to the Radio Maria for this diversified and generous
engagement in the Apostolate of Word, which is today so important and so needed
in our country". He Himself entrusted your Radio to Mary’s protection. She is
the chief patroness of the Radio, She is present in the words of all of you. I
entrust your Apostolate to Virgin Mary’s protection. We venerate Her as the Star
of Evangelization.

"Mary, the Star of Evangelization, please lead
us, lead Radio Maria and be its protectress". May Mary, the Star of New
Evangelization, lead your Radio to the new people and new times. In this spirit
of entrusting, thanks to indomitable will and fidelity with the Magisterium of
the Church and with its Shepherds, Radio Maria could, despite of the
difficulties, develop fruitfully its activity at home and abroad.

And with the seed of Word in the hearts of men,
after 20 years of continuous activity on many levels, we can admit that the
yield of the sow is abundant. In the first place on the waves of your radio, you
can experience the encounter with God through prayer and catechesis. Two
important elements that mark out the Catholic Radio from the other stations.

Every day is broadcasted the Holy Mass, Breviary,
Angelus, Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Evening prayer to Mary the Queen of
Poland from Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, Prayer of the Immaculate Conception of
the Blessed Virgin Mary and other prayers characteristic for different periods –
as for example a penitential prayers celebrated in Lent ("Gorzkie Żale").

Everyday catechesis is enriched by the presence
of bishops. Inseparable attachment with the Holy See is manifested in the
broadcasts of all the foreign pilgrimages of the Holy Father, the Wednesday
general audiences, the "Angelus" with the Pope, the Vatican Radio news and the
most important events in the Holy See and the universal Church. In addition, a
weekly news from the Vatican Octava Dies is broadcasted, as well as the
information service from the Holy Land – Terra Santa News.

The Pope Benedict XVI expresses his joy that,
thanks to the Radio Maria and related with it television Trwam, his apostolic
journeys, Wednesday audiences and other events can be received in Poland in the
native language. This is a clear contribution in bringing closer the Peter’s
Mission in your country and among your countrymen who live abroad.

Not without significance is also the Christian
social activity of your Radio. Known and religiously valuable is the community
dimension of the Radio Maria listeners, families, youth and especially wonderful
and unique phenomenon of the Backyard Rosary Circles of Children gathering about
150 thousand of children in the different parts of world who express their love
for the Mother of the Savior through the regular, everyday Rosary.

Thinking about the formation of young people and
for the sake of the Catholic journalists, already for 10 years in Torun has
existed the School of Social and Media Culture. The press dimension of
journalism represents a well-known in Poland daily journal. Radio Maria also
pilgrimages through its homeland transmitting the Holy Mass and other
celebrations from many sanctuaries in the dioceses and parishes. It also follows
the events of the Church in Poland. Radio Maria listeners are on the pilgrimage
tracks to Czestochowa, Rome and the American Czestochowa in Pennsylvania.

The specificity of this radio lies also in the
fact that anyone can take part in an open discussion program "Unfinished
Conversations", participating by the telephone in the live program. There should
also be mentioned the scientific, cultural and social environments gathering
around the Radio Maria and supporting clearly the moral teaching of the Catholic
Church, defending life from conception to natural death and defending the family
founded on responsible and God-blessed union of a man and woman and the
Christian education of children.

Mentioned above forms of religious influence on
the masses of listeners, especially the people with disabilities, the sick, the
advanced in years, who cannot participate personally in the pastoral programs in
their dioceses or parishes, are a genuine contribution to the Mission of
Evangelization of the Church in Poland and harmonize with the path of the New
Evangelization traced by The Magisterium of the Church.

Finally, I would like to quote the words of the
Pope, your compatriot, Blessed John Paul II, addressed to you during one of the
pilgrimages to Rome: "May your Radio be on service of the true information,
fulfilled with love and based on justice. May it contribute to the formation of
human consciences in the spirit of the teaching of Christ."

The Holy Father Benedict XVI, thanking you for
the 20 years of the generous Mission of Evangelization, asks God through the
intercession of the Holy Mother, Patroness of the Radio Maria, that this Cause
of permeation of faith to the human consciences, guided by the Redemptorist
Religious Order in Poland and abroad, results in a permanent victory of good
over evil and brings good to the many Christians and to all of your country. In
this spirit, I share your joy and I salute all the participants of the ceremony
and the listeners.

+ Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Secretary of State

 

Vatican, 1 December 2011
 

*Przesłanie Ojca Świętego Benedykta XVI na 20-tą Rocznicę powstania Radia Maryja
*Messaggio del Papa Benedetto XVI in occasione del 20° anniversario di Radio Maria
*Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to Radio Maryja
*Botschaft des Heiligen Vaters Benedikt XVI an Radio Maryja
*Mensaje del Santo Padre Benedicto XVI con ocasión del veinte aniversario de Radio María