UBON RATCHATHANI, Thailand (UCAN) -- A Catholic priest in northeastern Thailand is using radio to tell people, most of them Buddhists, about Lent and the need to care for the poor.

"Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity," Father Jaturong Sarakun said as he explained the theme of Pope Benedict XVI's Lenten message over a local commercial radio station.

Father Jaturong, director of Ubon Ratchathani diocese's social development center, began the weekly "Communicate Love" broadcasts on Ash Wednesday, March 1 this year. They will run until April 12, the Wednesday before Easter Sunday. The program airs 11.30 a.m. to noon over the FM 102 station based in Ubon Ratchathani city, 630 kilometers northeast of Bangkok.

"Yet, even in the desolation of misery, loneliness, violence and hunger that indiscriminately afflict children, adults, and the elderly, God does not allow darkness to prevail," Father Jaturong said, quoting from the pope's message.

The priest told listeners Lent is a time to share things with others. He also quoted from the Lenten message of Bishop Michael Bunluen Mansap, who said that when Christians give to the poor, they give to Christ. Bishop Mansap, who will turn 77 in April, headed the diocese until the pope accepted his resignation on March 25 and appointed Redemptorist Father Philip Banchong Chaiyara as the new bishop of Ubon Ratchathani.

"Whatever we do, we do with Jesus," Father Jaturong said. He urged listeners to take an interest in and assist poor people, and to reconcile with others.

Supawat Chuncharoen, 19, a Catholic student who tunes in to the radio program, told UCA News that he listens to "Communicate Love" because it reinforces his faith within a mostly Buddhist milieu.

"Lent is a period of remembering Jesus on the cross," he said, and as such is "an occasion to pray, try to reconcile, save money for the poor, be friendly with others." The program, he said, emphasizes this belief.

About 95 percent of Thais are Buddhists, with Catholics forming only about half of 1 percent of the country's estimated 63.5 million people.

Jiraporn Pakaew, the host of "Communicate Love," told UCA News it is designed to give listeners a better understanding of Lent. Jiraporn is active in the diocesan campaign to make Lent better known.

According to her, Ubon Ratchathani diocese has run Catholic radio programs since 2004. Currently it has four programs, she said, two of which air Monday to Saturday in Ubon Ratchathani province. A Sunday morning program is broadcast for people in Maha Sarakham province, and a Sunday evening program for those in Roi Et province. The diocese covers both provinces.

Watchada Sirikul, an official of the diocesan social development center, told UCA News the programs are part of the diocese's Lenten campaign to promote Lent and help the poor. The diocese is also selling T-shirts and stickers with Lenten messages on them, she said, and "we are trying to visit all Catholic villagers in Ubon Ratchathani diocese."

The diocese covers seven provinces and has 25,184 Catholics in a population estimated at 7.8 million people.

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