Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - This morning Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to Vatican Radio which is marking its 75th birthday. In his address to the staff gathered in the Sala Marconi the Pope said: “Vatican Radio today is no longer the one voice broadcast from one point it was at the beginning with the Marconi station. Rather, it has become a chorus of voices in over forty different languages and it can enter into dialogue with different religions and cultures; a chorus of voices which travels the air thanks to electromagnetic waves and is diffused and recorded in the ever more dense telematic network which envelops the planet. Continue, dear friends, to operate in the great forum of modern communications… But never forget that the mission with which you are entrusted demands adequate technical and professional formation and above all a spirit of prayer and fidelity to the teaching of Christ and his Church”. During his visit the Pope blessed the new “Cardinal Karol Wojtyła Recording Studio”, visited the office which produces Vatican Radio’s live daily programme One-O-Five and stopped to say a prayer in Vatican Radio’s own Chapel.
In his address the Pope thanked the Society of Jesus for the service rendered to the Holy See since Vatican Radio first started and he briefly traced the development of the Pope’s own Radio in 75 years. Today using the most advanced technology Vatican Radio, produces programmes in various languages which are broadcast by many other Broadcasters all over the world . “Dear friends - the Pope said - , for all this we cannot fail to thank God and at the same time pray that he will continue to assist you in your work”, and he underlined “this urgency of this mission remains although the circumstances and means may change”.
Earlier the Holy Father had spoken over the radio live addressing listeners of the daily programme One-O-Five: “Today the voice of Vatican Radio reaches ever corner of the world, it is heard in many homes and above all there is a happy reciprocity, speaking and replying, in a dialogue aimed at promoting understanding and building up the family of God. I see the purpose of a means of communication as a means to help build up this great family which knows no boundaries and where people of all different cultures and languages are all brothers and sisters, and they represent a force for peace. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/3/2006, righe 31, parole 460)
