Powerful transmitters beam Vatican Radio – “The Pope’s Voice” – to a global audience.
But the station -whose transmitters are located 18km from Rome – has faced allegations that its transmissions have been putting lives at risk by exceeding Italian electromagnetic radiation standards – claims the Vatican denies.
Even though the transmitters are outside of the Vatican proper, they are legally part of the city state, and are thus not covered by EU legislation as the Vatican is not part of the EU.
In 2015, Pope Francis created the Secretariat for Communications in the Roman Curia, which absorbed Vatican Radio in 2017 and brought the station under direct Vatican control.
Programmes are broadcast via short wave, FM and satellite, but the Vatican is cutting back on its short wave transmissions in order to save costs.
There were 580 internet users by July 2022, 75% of the population (Internetworldstats.com). The papacy maintains a Twitter account, @Pontifex. The Vatican has a presence on YouTube and Facebook.
Press
- L’Osservatore Romano – published six days a week in Italian (and in various language weekly versions) it is the Vatican’s newspaper, covering activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church
- Vatican Information Service – operated by Holy See Press Office
Radio
- Vatican Radio – inaugurated in 1931, broadcasts in many languages
News agencies
- Agenzia Fides
Source : BBC
