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                               VIS-Press releases

VATICAN TELEVISION ACQUIRES NEW OUTSIDE BROADCASTING UNIT

VATICAN CITY, 16 NOV 2010 (VIS) - "New technologies at the service of the
communications of the Holy See" was the theme of a press conference held this
morning to present the new high-definition outside-broadcasting equipment which
the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) will now be using.

Participating in today's conference, held in the Holy See Press Office, were
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications and of the administrative board of the Vatican Television
Centre; Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Vatican Television Centre;
Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, and Gildas
Pelliet, managing director of Sony Italia.

Archbishop Celli highlighted the fact that the lorry containing the CTV outside
broadcasting unit is being inaugurated just a few days before the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications' newly renewed website "Pope2you" comes
online. The aim of the website, which has existed for some time, "is to
accompany the thousands of young people from every continent who wish to follow
the Pope closely, listening to his words and, in some way, entering into
dialogue with him. The site has thus far had some five million hits", he said.

"The second project we have begun working upon is the creation of a new portal
which will bring together, also using multimedia technology, the various
sources of news within the Vatican", said Archbishop Celli.

In his remarks Fr. Lombardi explained how the new equipment "certainly
represents the biggest investment made by the CTV in recent years, and perhaps
in its entire history, ... which began in the year 1983 by order of John Paul
II. This is, then, a good opportunity to recall the goals and functions of this
institution of social communications of the Holy See, and the criteria it
follows in its activities.

"The mission of CTV", Fr. Lombardi added, "as its statute
says, is to ensure
the tele-visual recording of the Holy Father's activities and of other
important events that take place within the Vatican, ... and to create an
archive of all these images, both as a source of documentation and in order to
produce information services, documentaries, etc. All this, of course, is to
serve the mission of the Church, making the Holy Father's activities and
teaching better known".

Doing this task well, he went on, "requires operational skill and a quality
product, in keeping with advances in tele-visual communications and, more
generally, in the modern use of video, for example on the internet. If we
failed to maintain an adequate level ... we would effectively hinder the
diffusion of the Pope's image, and hence of his message".

For this reason CTV has greatly increased its live coverage over recent years,
and currently "makes an average of 200 live broadcasts every
year", said Fr.
Lombardi. These include the great celebrations in St. Peter's Square, the
Angelus, general and special audiences, and concerts in the Paul VI Hall or in
the basilicas.

The director of the Vatican Television Centre also pointed out that the
majority of quality documentaries are now produced in high-definition, and that
an increasing number of television channels are using this system. For this
reason, he explained, CTV's move to the system "was a necessary step ... we
could not fail to make, for otherwise the image of the Pope would gradually
have disappeared from television screens over the coming years".

The cost of the operation has been met from three sources: Sony, which offered
favourable terms of payment; a notable contribution from the Knights of
Columbus, and the resources which CTV has been earmarking for this purpose over
recent years, thanks to its annual budget surplus.

For his part Carl Anderson explained how the new high-definition outside-
broadcasting unit "represents the most recent development in the long history
of the Catholic Church's work in mass communication". The Knights of Columbus,
he said, "is so happy to be able to support the great communications work of
the Vatican" in the hope of reaching "to the farthest corner of this city,
Italy and the world".

Gildas Pelliet explained how the new mobile unit, "a lorry 13.9 metres long,
... is divided into four operational areas: audio cabin, equipment room,
primary and secondary director's cabin, and camera control. The sixteen
television cameras all have high-definition fibre optic connections".
OP/VIS 20101116 (730)

SUMMARY

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