Radio Veritas, the voice of the Church in Vietnam and all of Asia for the past 40 years

April 24, 2009

by J.B. VU

For Catholics RVA is often the only source of news of and about local and the universal Church. The Vietnamese are particularly proud of Mgr Nguyen Van Tai, who has worked for the broadcaster for the past 31 years, and contributed to the training of priests, nuns and lay people studying in the Philippines. Monsignor Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, took part in the celebrations.

Nguyen Vu (AsiaNews) – Radio Veritas Asia is the only Catholic radio broadcaster on the Asian continent. Created in 1969 it now reaches the faithful in 20 Asian countries in Chinese, Vietnamese and 20 other languages. It is based on a pleasant hill in Quezon City, Metro manila.
Vietnamese Catholics are especially proud of Mgr Nguyen Van Tai, the station’s programming director who has a career of 31 years at the radio.

Father Tai, who has received the Radio Veritas award from cardinal Sin, not only has left his mark on the station, but has been of great assistance to hundreds of priests, nuns and lay people who spent time studying in the Philippines.

In the 1970s and 1980s Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world, faced with extreme shortages, natural disasters, widespread disease and social problems and had about half a million children in difficult situations.

The Church can boast of 50 medical doctors and 300 highly trained specialists who graduated in the Philippines.

The celebration of the radio’s 40th anniversary (pictured) was held on 16 April. Archbishop Claudio M. Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, celebrated Mass with two cardinals, 17 bishops and Mgr Nguyen Van De, president of the Social Communication Commission of the Bishops’ Council of Vietnam, plus numerous priests and 300 guests.

On this occasion priests, nuns, the elderly and parishioners from cities, the countryside, and mountain provinces told AsiaNews that they listened to Radio Veritas every day.

They love “listening to the news about the local and the worldwide Church because local Catholic news and religious ideas are limited or are selected by someone for information purposes.”
“We feel close to the Church when we hear the voice of Dang The Dung. We understand the Bible from Rome when Linh Tien Khai speaks. We are very moved when Mai Huong tells us about the Church, Catholic events and important writings.”

“Radio Veritas travels with Vietnamese Catholics and those of other Asian countries on the journey of our faith in God around the world.”