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| (via Gayle Van Horn Collection) |
In recent years, it has been
reported that Vatican Radio has been attempting to cut its operating costs by a
reduction in some of its transmission services, and also by operating its
complement of shortwave transmitters at a lower power level. In addition, Vatican Radio has also
co-operated in exchanging reciprocal
relay services with other international broadcasting stations, such as Radio
Canada International, Radio Netherlands and NHK Tokyo.
The Catholic World News Report
states that the newly appointed prefect of the Secretariat for Communications
in the Vatican, Msgr Dario Vigano, will cut off all shortwave broadcasts as a
move to cut costs. One of the first
moves in this regard occurred on March 24 when all English language broadcasts
to Asia came to an end. This dramatic
move in ending its shortwave transmissions will include the closure of their
large shortwave station at Santa Maria
di Galeria.
No specific date was indicated in
the brief three paragraph news release as to the target date for closure. However, this same news release refers to the
fact that the Vatican will no longer use the shortwave station at Santa Maria
di Galaria, and that NHK Tokyo has already enquired regarding the possibility
of buying this station.
In our program today here in
Wavescan, we go back to the beginning, and we investigate the origins of
Vatican Radio and its first shortwave station.
This is the story.
Back on July 25, 1925, a senior
Vatican official issued a memorandum calling for the Vatican to establish its
own radio broadcasting station, primarily for the broadcast of astronomy news
from the Vatican Observatory. Two years
later, the Italian-Irishman of radio fame,
Guglielmo Marconi, received an official invitation from the Vatican to make
plans for establishing a radio broadcasting station in the Vatican.
Two years later again, on February
11, 1929, a concordat was signed between the government of Italy and the
Vatican, thus re-establishing the Vatican as a separate political entity with
extra-territorial status. Then four days
after the signing of this concordat, which is known as the Lateran Treaty,
Marconi was entrusted with the installation of a radio broadcasting station, Vatican
Radio.
Under the Marconi initiative, a new
10 kW shortwave transmitter was installed in Vatican City, or Leonine City as
it is sometimes called. This transmitter
and its associated equipment was manufactured in Marconi’s own factory at Chelmsford in
England.
The transmitter and self-supporting
antenna tower, together with its associated reflector at the base, was erected
in the area of the enclave known as the Vatican Gardens. Interestingly, this new radio broadcasting station
would operate solely on shortwave, and a mediumwave service would not be
established until a dozen years later, during the stressful years of World War
2.
At 3:30 pm on Thursday February 12,
1931, Marquis Marconi arrived and he entered the small studio where he
announced to the world in fluent English that the official inauguration
ceremony would begin just one hour later.
This introductory shortwave transmission was heard loud and clear, it
was reported, in New York City USA, Melbourne Australia and Quebec Canada. All of the new electronic equipment was then
switched off.
One hour later at the previously
appointed time of 4:30 pm, the electronic equipment was officially switched on
again, stage by stage. The transmitter
operator sent out a short four word message in Morse Code in the Latin language
as an indication that the official inauguration program was about to
begin.
A few minutes later, Guglielmo
Marconi himself, speaking again in fluent English, announced in two brief
paragraphs the birth of shortwave station HVJ,
the new Vatican Radio. Vatican
dignitaries speaking in the Latin language for a full hour and a half, then
pronounced the official inauguration of the new shortwave radio station whose
signal could be heard around the world.
Monitoring reports received subsequently indicated a good signal into so
many different countries around the world.
Initial programming from shortwave
HVJ consisted of two brief broadcasts each day; 15 minutes each, beginning at
5:00 am on 15120 kHz and at 2:00 pm on 5970 kHz. Program content was usually astronomy
information from the Vatican Observatory presented in the Italian
language. There were however, special
broadcasts on special occasions, and occasional broadcasts in the English
language.
Some six years later, in 1937, a
German made 25 kW Telefunken transmitter, Model S379GR, also shortwave, was
installed, though programming still remained much the same, with English on
Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, with
war clouds ominous over continental Europe, developmental plans were laid in
the Autumn of 1939 with increased programming in multiple languages.
The first mediumwave transmitter for
Vatican Radio was installed during the year 1943 under the callsign HVI. From where did the Vatican obtain an
additional radio broadcasting transmitter when active war was wreaking havoc
and devastation in so many countries of continental Europe, including Italy
itself?
By this time, the European war was
turning against the central powers, and Italy signed a Peace Memorandum with
the allies on September 3, 1943, the very day that British forces landed on the
toe of Italy. And American forces
followed very quickly afterwards, just three days later.
With the British and American
presence already in Italy, we could guess that the new 1 kW transmitter in the
Vatican came from either England or the United States. Perhaps the Marconi company in England, or
perhaps RCA in the United States?
Over the years, additional
mediumwave transmitters have been installed in the Vatican, including 100 kW on
1529 kHz in 1951, and several smaller units at 5 kW 10 kW 15 kW and 20 kW. Also
in 1951, a Philips 100 kW shortwave transmitter was installed in Vatican City,
though this was transferred six
years later as the first transmitter in Santa Maria di Galeria.
The last shortwave transmitter in
Vatican City itself was a double unit made up of a Marconi 50 kW and a
Telefunken 30 kW combined to produce 80 kW on the out of band channel 6210
kHz. This unusual operation was closed
down half a dozen years ago.
Later this year, we plan to present
the story of the Vatican shortwave station at Santa Maria di Galeria, which, we
understand, NHK Tokyo would now like to buy.
(AWR Wavescan/NWS 423)
