Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio is the broadcast service operated by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church. First launched in 1931 to transmit the pope’s voice and spiritual teaching to the world, Vatican Radio is a media organization with significant technological, theological, and sociopolitical dimensions. As the world’s oldest transnational broadcaster, its technical history reflects the entire development of electronic mass communication from early invention through global growth on to postmodern media convergence.

Vatican Radio has played influential roles in both propagating the Catholic faith and voicing papal contributions to international diplomacy. This entry discusses four primary phases of Vatican Radio history: (1) conception and launch, (2) World War II diplomacy, (3) modern growth, and (4) contemporary convergence.