Catholic communities across Myanmar marked “Radio Veritas Day” on May 17, highlighting the role of Radio Veritas Asia as a vital source of faith and hope for people displaced by war and living amid ongoing conflict and insecurity.
According to a report by the Vatican’s Fides News Agency, more than 500 Catholics gathered at an internally displaced persons camp in the Diocese of Banmaw in Kachin State to celebrate the broadcaster’s Kachin-language service.
Myanmar has faced armed conflict and political instability since the military seized power in 2021, with heavy fighting in ethnic minority regions such as Kachin State displacing thousands of families.
Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam of Banmaw said the mission of Radio Veritas Asia is rooted in proclaiming the Gospel, citing Matthew 10:27: “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”
“This is precisely RVA’s mission,” the bishop said.
“RVA is a communication tool that spreads the truth. We participate, we donate, and we pray for the people who work there,” he added.
The bishop said the Kachin-language service, established in 1982, continues to “provide spiritual encouragement to many faithful in their trials.”
Elsewhere in Kachin State, about 250 faithful, catechists, and listeners gathered in Rawang to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the broadcaster’s Rawang-language program.
At St. Joseph’s Church in the Diocese of Myitkyina, Father Mark Kyi Moe said the program has become “a valuable instrument for spreading the Gospel among the Rawang tribes.”
The broadcasts include religious news, cultural programs, and prayers in the Rawang language.
Further south in the Diocese of Pathein, members of the Karen ethnic community also commemorated RVA Day through a Eucharistic celebration organized by the Karen-language service.
Bishop Henry Eikhlein of Pathein said the occasion offered “an opportunity to acknowledge the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel.”
“This witness,” he said, “springs from the faith in the risen Christ, as taught by Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and other saints who courageously bore witness to him throughout the world.”
The bishop said Myanmar’s faithful continue to live “amidst hardship and in a context of uncertainty and suffering,” where “the words of hope disseminated by RVA help to strengthen and deepen our faith day by day.”
“It is important,” he added, “that the Karen people continue to bear witness to their faith through their mother tongue.”
Radio Veritas Asia began regional broadcasts from Manila in 1969 through an initiative of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. Its Myanmar service started in 1978 with Burmese-language programming before expanding to broadcasts in other ethnic minority languages across the country.
