Pope blesses Vatican’s New High-Definition Van

(November 17,2010) Pope Benedict XVI blessed Vatican Television Center's new high-definition van on Wednesday at the end of his general audience. The mobile unit will make it possible to broadcast video images of papal events in HD. The Vatican said the van, which in the future will also be able to broadcast in 3D, should be up and running by Christmas. The unit comes equipped with 16 video cameras, and has a capacity for up to 24. It cost a total of €4.5 million and was made possible by Sony-Italy, the Knights of Columbus and the Vatican Television Center, CTV. According to Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, CTV director and Papal spokesman, the investment in the HD unit is useful, as there are more than 200 live broadcasts from the Vatican every year, from the large celebrations in St. Peter's Square, to the angelus and the general and special audiences, to the concerts in Paul VI Hall, or in the basilicas. Fr. Lombardi also said that it was time for the Vatican to upgrade to HD capacity. "If we don't maintain an adequate level of quality and capacity, we'd be standing in the way of broadcasting images, and thus the Pope's message,” he added.
Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, one of the donors said, “The van represents the most recent development in the long history of the Catholic Church's work in mass communications. It is for this is the reason that the Knights of Columbus is so happy to be able support the great communications work of the Vatican, which continues the evangelizing spirit of the Church in the modern world through the use of the best technology available.” Anderson hoped that this new technology in the service of evangelization, will serve as a conduit, bringing to every corner of the earth the word of God presented in the most technologically clear and advanced manner that has ever been possible, and transforming the lives of countless people."