NASWA Journal Columns · Shortwave Center, April 1997

Shortwave Center, April 1997

A Trip to Aparecida

by Pedro M. C. de Castro, Lorena - SP - Brazil

Introduction

Brazil is the largest Roman Catholic country in the world. There are religious celebrations in several cities, and the biggest one is the “Cirio de Nazare” feast, in Belem, State of Para.

Belem, however, is a big city with 1.3 million inhabitants, and the feast itself lasts only one day. What about a city with only 34,000 inhabitants which receives over 5 million visitors per year?

Where are the biggest Brazilian radio stations? In Brasilia, Rio, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and other big cities, of course. But don’t forget to include a small city in this list of giants. Take a look below to learn more about the phenomenon of Aparecida.

The Beginning

The first references on colonization of the site comes from 1640 (1). A statement from 1687, in a notebook of the Diocese of Rio de Janeiro, describes the Parish of Guaratingueta as a “village with 250 inhabitants and 61 houses”.

Guaratingueta was a stop-over village for the travelers traveling to the gold mines of Ouro Preto, in Minas Gerais Province. In 1717, the Count of Assumar, governor of the Provinces of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, took a rest at the village with his retinue. The fishermen were charged to provide food for the visitors, so they launched their boats on the Paraiba River.

The fishing was poor that day, so the three fishermen tried 3 miles upstream at the port of Itaguassu. At this site, the fisherman Joao Alves hauled in his net and found a little statue of Our Lady without the head. The next time he found the head of the statue, and soon he caught so many fish that the boat almost sank. This was the first miracle credited to the so-called Our Lady Aparecida (the Portuguese word for “Appeared”).

The clay statue was made by a monk around 1650 in Sao Paulo, representing the Immaculate Conception, a popular devotion in Portugal. No one knows how it was thrown in Paraiba River.

Felipe Pedroso, partner of Joao Alves, took the statue to his house and started the veneration of Our Lady with his family and neighbours. In 1732, he moved to Porto Itaguassu and took the statue to its first shrine, which was built by his son Atanasio.

Travelers spread out the fame of Our Lady Aparecida and the pilgrims started to come. The people decided to build a bigger church in the top of a hill near Porto Itaguassu to shelter the statue. The church was opened in 1745 when the statue was brought in from its former site and the village of Aparecida was born, as a district of Guaratingueta.

The Old Basilica

Faith and Devotion Grows

Newspaper articles from Guaratinguetta, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro reported in the 19th century on the pilgrimage to Aparecida. The Frenchman artist Jean Baptiste Debret depicted the pilgrims in 1827, as well as other European artists, while journalists and scientists wrote references in their personal diaries. Some decades later, a new church became necessary, and a bigger one was opened in 1888, on the same place of the former one. It is known today as the “Old Basilica”.

In 1895, the German Redemptorist missionary, Father Lorenz Gahr, wrote to a friend in Bremen, stating that Aparecida had 1,300 inhabitants and received 150,000 visitors per year, according to local newspapers.

The City of Aparecida…

Aparecida was a district of Guaratingueta until 1928, when it became an independent municipality and elected its first mayor. With an area of 60 sq. miles and at an elevation of 1700 feet above sea level, its present population is 34,000. Located on the highway connecting Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, its distance to Sao Paulo is 110 miles and to Rio is 160 miles (2).

Although the Redemptorist missionaries once again noticed they needed a larger shrine as early as 1926, the site of the new church, the Pitas Hill, wasn’t prepared until 1946. The first brick was laid eight years later.

Fifteen million bricks and 110 thousand cubic feet of concrete later, the shrine looks like a cross with 70,000 sq. feet of area and a central dome at 200 feet high. At the north side, a tower with 3600 sq. foot (60 x 60 f), 17 floors and 300 feet high. The church is so large that the whole population of Aparecida can comfortably visit the church at same time. A viaduct, for pedestrians only, connects the old and the new Basilicas.

Pope John Paul II himself blessed the shrine in 1980, and now Aparecida is visited by more than 5 million pilgrims per year (3).

…and Radio Aparecida

The Vicar of Aparecida, Father Oscar Azeredo, was the first to ask for permission to set up a radio station in Aparecida early in 1936 (4). However, the Archbishop of Sao Paulo took 14 years to agree to the idea. The Basilica of Aparecida was allowed to request permission to the Federal Government only in 1950.

Radio Aparecida finally came to the air on Sept. 8th 1951, with 100 watts on 600 kHz. At first, the studios were installed in a building aside the Old Basilica but, four years later, they were moved to a bigger building, with 3 floors, near the old studios.

The first transmissions in the tropical bands began in 1952, and on other shortwave bands in 1954, reaching the whole country. A Club of Associates, now with 800,000 members, was founded in 1955, in order to join the listeners and proclaim the Gospel trough the devotion to Our Lady Aparecida. The program “Clube dos Socios”, on the air since 1955, is still among the most popular of Brazilian radio. Another tropical band frequency was added in 1968.

For the second time, R A faced the need for bigger studios, so they moved to a brand new building in 1975. This new building is huge, with 30,000 sq. feet, 6 studios and an auditorium for 1,200 persons, near the New Basilica. Soon, the mediumwave channel was shifted to 820 kHz, and Frequency Modulation began in 1977. Today, the first site of R A is a book shop and the second one is the Police Station of Aparecida.

There are now 79 persons working at the station, and the frequencies and powers are: 820 kHz 10 kW, 5035 kHz 10 kW, 6135 kHz 25 kW, 9630 kHz 10 kW, 11855 kHz 7.5 kW and 90.9 Mhz 50 kW.

The goal of the programs on shortwave, with national coverage, is the catechism and evangelization. The programs on Mediumwave consist more of music and news, and the FM programs are almost essentially musical, aiming at specific listeners. The “Encontro DX”, produced by Cassiano Macedo, is the only Brazilian program for DX’ers, and has been on the air since 1986. It is broadcast on Saturdays at 2300 UTC (2200 summer time) on medium and shortwave. Some news of the “Encontro DX” is sent to Radio Miami International and The Voice of Russia.

Radio Aparecida receives over 3,000 letters per month, from all over the country. Letters from abroad number about 15 to 20 per month, several from Germany, but also from Cuba, United States, Netherlands and Italy. Correct reception reports are confirmed with a QSL card in English. R A is a non-profitable organization (a Foundation). Its goal is the promotion of citizenship, moral, cultural, religious, artistic, literary and scientific education of the Brazilian people.

The address of Radio Aparecida is Avenida Getulio Vargas nr. 185, Aparecida SP Brazil, zip code 12570-000, phone (012) 565 -1133, fax (012) 565 -1138.

Recent Achievements

Radio Aparecida is now producing a regional news program named “Sao Paulo no Radio”, which is relayed by several other stations in Sao Paulo State, linked by satellite, forming the Rede Paulista de Radio (Paulista Radio Network). R A is also one of the headquarters of a national network, the Rede Catolica de Radio, with 120 stations in the whole country. The other headquarters of this network are Radio Difusora in Goiania, America in Belo Horizonte, Clube Paranaense in Curitiba, Maua in Sao Paulo and Cancao Nova in Cachoeira Paulista.

Two new stations were recently purchased by R A: they are Radio Educadora Santa Rita (ex- Radio Educadora Rural) in Fernandopolis, 1490 kHz, and Radio Difusora Monte Aprazivel, 780 kHz, in Monte Aprazivel, both in Sao Paulo State. These stations broadcast their own programs for 12 hours and relay R A for 12 hours per day.

Conclusion

Our Lady Aparecida is in the heart of every Brazilian. Many people are named Aparecida or Aparecido, alone or combined with Maria, Jose and other names. The name is also part of the Brazilian colloquial vocabulary, as an exclamation of surprise.

Through constant progress, keeping in close contact with his listeners, providing entertainment, the Gospel and the message of Our Lady Aparecida to the farthest corner of the nation, Radio Aparecida is partially responsible for this devotion. But in this case, not by miracle. Just by work and faith.

References

1- Brustoloni, Father Julio, C.SS.R. - Santuario de Aparecida - Editora Santuario - Aparecida - 1991.

2- Guia Brasil 96 - A Brazilian touristic guide - Editora Abril - Sao Paulo - 1996.

3- Guia Turistico de Aparecida 1997 - Markgraf Edicoes - Aparecida - 1997.

4- Radio Aparecida 45 anos - A newspaper published by Radio Aparecida to celebrate its 45th anniversary - 1996.

For those interested in knowing more about Brazilian radio, there is an excellent article named “DXing Brazil - A North American Perspective”, by John Fisher, published by Fine Tuning’s Proceedings in 1989. Except for the name of the President, this is still a valuable article.

The author acknowledges the attention devoted by the personnel of Radio Aparecida during his visit, specially Mr. Eriberto Carvalho, speaker, and Father Joao Batista de Almeida, Adminstrative Manager.

(See more pictures of Radio Aparecida.)

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