Colombian church radio stations air news, music, Christian values

Published: 2006-06-05

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- On Tuesday nights in San Gil, a midsized town in central Colombia, a small group gathers at La Cometa, the community radio station, to plot how to fight a city real estate tax. In Ituango, a town plagued by Colombia's 42-year civil conflict, the community radio station runs a communications training program for local teenagers, and in the Andean town of Villapinzon radio listeners learn how to participate in a democracy. These state-owned community radio stations, and nearly 200 others broadcasting in Colombia's major cities and far-flung towns, are as diverse as the communities they serve. However, they are all managed by Catholic Church organizations. For the church, managing such an extensive radio network "is complicated," said Ana Maria Rodriguez, coordinator of Colombia's Catholic Radio Association. "But the church makes a big effort, very conscious of the service it can provide the country in terms of peace, of social justice, in terms of news, in terms of education, in concern for violence, drug trafficking."

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