Radio at the Service of Humanity

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The first Vatican Radio microphone.

Communication by the airwaves was already in use during World War I. In Germany the Nazi party offered a radio to every family, but tuned it exclusively for the promotion of National Socialist ideology! Listening to another station brought severe penalties and Hitler Youth leaders called for children to report their elders.

During the Nazi period in Europe, people beyond the reach of the Nazis used this medium to combat the errors and vicious activities of Nazi Germany. After the young priest John M. Oesterreicher had fled from Austria to Paris, he used radio to elucidate the Christian message in contrast to the propaganda coming from Germany. In research of Nazi archives in Coblenz, Father Robert Graham found that a stenographer had recorded Father Oesterreicher’s sermons.  In 1986 Dr. Erica Weinzeirl edited the collection under the title: Wider die Tyrannei des Rassenwahns. Rundfunkansprachen aus dem ersten Jahr von Hitlers Krieg. (Geyer Edition Wien, Salzburg, 1986).

In 1931, under Pope Pius XI, the Holy See introduced radio as a means for international communication.  See the commemoration of this milestone in “Vatican Radio turns 90.”

As technology advances, the Church incorporates these manifestations of human ingenuity into the service of the Word of God. May this continue to promote the profound human need and desire for understanding, justice and true peace!

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