Remembering Fr. Pasquale Borgomeo, SJ

(03 Jul 09 - RV) The former Director-General of Vatican Radio. Jesuit Fr. Pasquale Borgomeo passed away yesterday, aged 76. The head of English programming at Vatican Radio, Sean-Patrick Lovett, remembers the man who led the Radio for more than two dacades.

I was 21 years old when I met Fr Pasquale Borgomeo.

I arrived a day early for my job interview and could hardly speak Italian – but he hired me just the same. Over 30 years later, I think back on every meeting with him as an event. You always came away from an encounter with Father Borgomeo feeling that somehow your mind had been broadened. Whatever the subject matter, his brilliant intellect, Neapolitan common sense, and almost anglo-saxon sense of humour, left you with new insights, different perspectives, a heightened understanding of things. The fact was that he simply enjoyed communicating.
He loved sharing his broad global vision on whatever it was you wanted to talk about – from politics to pop music.

It was with that vision that he led Vatican Radio as Director General for over 20 years. He guided the Radio through the difficult post Cold War years and inspired it to face the technical revolution that continues to change the way we communicate today – always looking for new ways to expand and improve the way Vatican Radio confronts the challenge of spreading the message of the Church throughout the world.

He was a Jesuit for 60 years and received his doctorate from the University of the Sorbonne. He spoke 4 languages.

This is an extract from his farewell speech to the Radio in 2005.

In the speech, Fr Borgomeo refers to a “sense of wonder” for the gift of being able to serve the Church and the Pope through such eventful years. Those of us who had the privilege of serving together with him, echo that “sense of wonder” and gratitude.
We are what we are and who we are – thanks also to him.