The world seen from Rome

Programming in Arabic and key Asian languages has become the new priority for Vatican Radio.

During the press conference held in the Vatican on the 21st of February on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the papal broadcasting station, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, General Director of Vatican Radio, stated that the mission of the Vatican Radio consists of freely, faithfully and efficiently announcing the Christian message and uniting the various countries of the world to the center of Catholicism. He confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the home office of the station on March 3rd, to celebrate its anniversary.

The new programming director, Jesuit Father Andrzej Koprowski, talked about some of the challenges facing Vatican Radio. Among what he called the "priority frontiers" for the station, is that of the Arabic language and culture, which are no longer exclusively found in the Middle East, but also in other regions of Europe and the world. He continued with another “priority frontier” mentioning the Asian one, he stated that they are conscious of the development of the Church in India and are aware of the role played by Christianity in India for the future of the universal Church. Also aware of the importance that they develop and keep open the universal ties between the Church in India, the Holy See, and the particular Churches in the other continents.

Father Koprowski also stressed the vital need of the Church to dialogue with and understand the cultures of the other countries on the vast Asian continent: China, Japan, Vietnam, etc. He added, yet another strategic opportunity which relates to the cultural and religious situation in post-communist European countries.

Both Father Lombardi and Father Koprowski underlined the possibilities Internet offers. Written and audio information in 30 languages is already available on the Web page, (www.radiovaticana.org). Programs are broadcasted by radio in 40 languages – including Arabic.  The station has 13,000 hours of papal addresses in its audio archives.