The occasional, often ill-considered thoughts of a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who is ever grateful to God for his existence. Despite the strangeness we encounter in this life, all the suffering we witness and endure, being is good, so good I am sometimes unable to contain my joy. Deo gratias!
Although I am an ordained deacon of the Catholic Church, the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions. In offering these personal opinions I am not acting as a representative of the Church or any Church organization.
I've been listening to Vatican Radio since I was a mere lad, for well over 50 years. I can remember searching the short-wave bands on my older brother's Zenith Transoceanic radio for English-language stations and stumbling across a Vatican Radio broadcast. It must have been in 1957 or thereabouts. After that first experience I was hooked. In fact I wrote to Vatican Radio and requested their broadcast schedule, which they kindly sent me, so I could listen to the station each evening. Although I no longer listen to the Vatican's shortwave broadcasts as I once did, I do the next best thing. I regularly visit their website on which you can listen to programs live or on demand. But for those without internet access, Vatican Radio continues to broadcast worldwide in dozens of languages, bringing the Church to many who might otherwise have little or no opportunity to attend Mass or deepen their faith through catechesis. It's also a wonderful way to stay abreast of all that's happening in the universal Church.
Yesterday Vatican Radio turned 80 years old. Encouraged by Pope Pius XI, Guglielmo Marconi (photo left), the Italian inventor who is credited with inventing the first practicable radio transmission system, started Vatican Radio in 1931. The station's first broadcast was made on February 12 of that year and consisted of an address by the pope in Latin.
To visit Vatican Radio's website, click here: Vatican Radio.
The following two videos provide a bit more detail on that first broadcast as well as a little of Vatican Radio's subsequent history.
The Vatican's presence on the worldwide web is quite extensive, but in addition to its main website (www.vatican.va), this presence expands via an impressive number of other related sites. Most of these sites can be accessed via links on the Vatican's main website, but the links are not always easy to find. And so I thought I'd share direct links to some of my favorite sites with you. .
The Vatican Library. For all you scholars out there who have been trying to visit the Vatican Library, your wait is over. On September 20 the library will reopen after three years of renovations and the installation of a rather extensive security system. As you might imagine, the library is huge, with well over a million books and thousands of one-of-a-kind manuscripts, so the renovations were needed to protect and preserve this unique collection. The video (below) provides a nice overview.
As stated in the above video, only 150 scholars visit the library daily. It is, however, strictly a research library and not open to the general public. Back in 2005 when I asked a Vatican representative if I could take a tour of the library, he stared at me for what seemed far too long, and then just gave me a dismissive look and shook his head. I suspect my lack of scholarly qualifications would continue to prevent my entry. As Professor Paul Burke of Clark University in Massachusetts relates in the below video, the procedure for entrance to the library is quite elaborate.
You can however visit the website of the Vatican Library, along with that of the Vatican Secret Archives. Both links are to the English language versions of the sites. They're actually pretty interesting sites, with lots of pages describing how the books and documents of the collection are preserved and reproduced. The sites also contain excellent photographs of many of the ancient documents stored in the Library and Secret Archives.
The Vatican Museums. If you've ever visited the Vatican and had more than a few hours, you probably also visited the Vatican Museums. They are absolutely amazing! I've been through them three times in the past ten years, but hope to make a more leisurely visit on my next trip. There is so much to see that it's probably wise to take one of the tours on your first visit, then return later to those areas that interest you. You can also purchase museum and tour tickets ahead of time on the website. .
But whether or not you've already been to the museums, you should definitely visit the website. The site includes a virtual tour of many of the key parts of the collections, including the Sistine Chapel. The panoramic view of the Sistine is truly remarkable -- almost as good as being there. In fact, on our last visit in 2008, the Chapel was so crowded that I found it difficult to appreciate its beauty fully. This site eliminates the crowds, lets you zoom right up to the beautiful artwork, and also includes some lovely choral music. Scroll left and right, up and down, zoom in and out to view every part of this remarkable work by Michelangelo. Photographs or videos are not permitted in the Sistine Chapel, so the website is the only (free) way one can relive the experience of a personal visit.
St. Peter's Basilica. Another wonderful site is the virtual tour of St. Peter's Basilica. Once again, it's almost as good as being there. If you're planning a trip to Rome, I recommend taking this online tour before you go. Here's the link: St. Peter's Virtual Tour.
Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. If, like me, you enjoy beautiful sacred music, you can visit the website of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and listen to MP3s of several hours of sacred music. Enjoy!
Vatican Radio. Another site worth visiting, especially if you don't have a short-wave radio, is the Vatican Radio website. This radio station broadcasts throughout the world in 40 different languages. You can listen to their English-language broadcasts online, and even get MP3 and podcasts. It's really a very extensive site. The Vatican also has a TV station with broadcasts available online, but they're all in Italian.
If you have Sirius satellite radio and listen to the Catholic Channel (#159), then you've probably heard "The Catholic Guy Show." Lino Rulli is the host of the show and he's really a pretty funny guy who does a good job teaching us that being religious doesn't mean being dour and always serious. He's a three-time Emmy Award winner so he's no amateur at this communications thing.
I suppose I enjoy him because I've always thought that a grumpy Christian is a contradiction in terms. Christianity, after all, should be the manifestation of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world, and the last time I checked good news made me happy.
You can check out his website at Catholic Guy Show and even download podcasts of his show. Here's a brief video about his recent week-long gig on Vatican Radio.
Yesterday Vatican Radio turned 80 years old. Encouraged by Pope Pius XI, Guglielmo Marconi (photo left), the Italian inventor who is credited with inventing the first practicable radio transmission system, started Vatican Radio in 1931. The station's first broadcast was made on February 12 of that year and consisted of an address by the pope in Latin.
