(December 23, 2010) The various Christmas celebrations and liturgies presided over
by Pope Benedict XVI will be available live to viewers worldwide via the Internet.
People across the globe will be able to view Mass with the Pope on Friday (Christmas
Eve), his address and blessing "Urbi et Orbi" ("To the city of Rome and to the World")
on Christmas Day, and Mass for the World Day of Peace on January 1. This new service
will be available to users through the Web pages of Vatican Radio, the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications, and the Pope2you site. Live commentary on the events
is being offered in six languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.
As well, a Chinese commentary will be available for the Christmas Eve Mass, and an
Arabic commentary for the January first liturgy. The Vatican Television Centre and
Telecom Italia are also collaborating to provide the technology to effectively allow
users to access these events. A press release from Vatican Radio noted that the service
will be offered on a platform that "provides fast and effective distribution of multimedia
content, making it available via web and iPhone all over the world." It added, "The
use of this platform guarantees top quality distribution of multimedia content to
vast numbers of people simultaneously, including service continuity and high quality
images." The service will also use "Smooth Streaming" technology to offer the best
possible quality to viewers. To access the player, go to Vatican Radio's homepage
at www.vaticanradio.org and click on "Audio Video Player" on the top-left. The player
also has another important change - the "Vatican Tic" - which gives the Holy Father’s
calendar of activities.