Pope sends greetings to former Vatican Radio director
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| Jesuit Father Antonio Stefanizzi, former director of Vatican Radio, making his 100th birthday.- RV |
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday sent greetings to
Jesuit Father Antonio Stefanizzi, a longtime director of Vatican
Radio who was celebrating his 100th birthday.
In a telegramme, signed by Vatican Secretary of State,
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope recalls the many years of fruitful
and generous service that Fr Stefanizzi dedicated to developing the
outreach of the Holy See’s media and communications.
Fr Stefanizzi was appointed director of Vatican
Radio in 1953, just two decades after its foundation by Italian scientist
and inventor, Guglielmo Marconi.
In the following years, Fr Stefanizzi oversaw the setting up
of a new transmission centre, north of Rome, which Pope Pius XII visited
for the inauguration in 1957.
As the Radio continued to grow, Pope John XXIII also
visited the transmission centre in 1962, as did his successor, Pope
Paul VI in 1966. To cope with an increasing number of different
language programmes, the production centre of the Radio was moved, in 1970,
from its original site in the Vatican gardens to its current location in
Palazzo Pio.
At the same time, Fr Stefanizzi also oversaw the development
of more sophisticated audio and video systems for St Peter’s Basilica and
the setting up of a radio station, Radio Veritas, based in the
Philippines, to broadcast across the region in a variety of Asian languages.
While Fr Stefanizzi stepped down as technical director of
Vatican Radio in 1973, he continued to work through the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications and was especially involved in the
development of satellite technology, leading to the installation of two
satellite dishes in the Vatican in the mid-1990s.
In 1990, Fr Stefanizzi was also appointed Secretary General
of the fledging Vatican Television Centre and was involved in
the development of the ‘World Vision’ global coverage of major papal events
such as the Christmas or Easter Masses and the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ messages.
Today, Fr Stefanizzi lives at the Jesuit residence in Rome
for the elderly and infirm, one of the oldest members of the community there.
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