History in Colour: First Vatican Radio Broadcast

by Admin · March 15, 2022

Pope Pius XI, who on February 6, 1922, became pope, launches the first broadcasts of Vatican Radio on February 12, 1931. Also in attendance was Guglielmo Marconi (left in the background), the inventor of radio who had set up Vatican Radio, and then-Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (front left), the Vatican’s secretary of state.

Pius XI died almost exactly eight years later, on February 10, 1939. He was succeeded by Cardinal Pacelli, who took the name Pius XII.

Vatican Radio’s first director was Fr Giuseppe Gianfranceschi SJ. His successors were usually also Jesuits. At its height, Vatican Radio broadcast in 45 languages throughout the world. For many years, Capetonian Sean Patrick Lovett headed the English section. After a restructuring of Vatican media in 2017, the station pared down its operations.