The voices of popes from as long ago as 1884 can now be heard by the public thanks to the digitizing of 8,000 tapes from Vatican Radio’s pontifical archives, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The initiative was launched as part of preparations for the sainting of popes John Paul II and John XXIII (1958-1963) on April 17, in the first double papal canonization ceremony in church history.
“This way, the popes remain among us thanks to their voices,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.
Radio Vatican has been storing its unique patrimony since it was set up under Pope Pius XI in 1931, but it has also older recordings, such as Pope Leo XIII’s Humanum Genus encyclical, which the pontiff recorded on a Dictaphone dictation machine in 1884.
Some of the clips in the online collection capture historic moments, such as Pope Pius XII’s speech in August 1939 calling for restraint on the eve of World War II, in which he said: “The danger is imminent, but there is still time. Nothing is lost with peace, all can be lost with war.”
People can also listen to John XXIII’s impromptu 1962 Speech to the Moon in St Peter’s Square, where he spoke in answer to requests from a huge crowd and told them: “When you head home, find your children. Hug and kiss your children and tell them: ‘This is the hug and kiss of the pope.’”
Latin buffs can also revel in the same pontiff’s dramatic Second Vatican Council speech in 1962, in which he rejected the “prophets of doom” who forecast the church’s decline and called on the council “to use the medicine of mercy rather than the weapons of severity” in their reforms.
Other highlights include Pope Paul VI’s anguished words following the kidnapping and murder of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro in May 1978, culminating in his public address to God: “You did not grant our plea for the safety of Aldo Moro, of this good and gentle man ... who was my friend.”
John Paul II’s emotionally-charged attack in 1993 on the Mafia’s “culture of death” following a spate of high-profile killings can be listened to again, as can Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation speech last year, where he said that he “will simply be a pilgrim starting the last phase of his pilgrimage on this earth.”
Pope John Paul I, who lived for just 33 days, can be heard at one of the few Angelus prayers he led describing the terror he felt as he realized the conclave of cardinals had decided to elect him as pope.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
CARGO PLANE VECTOR: Officials said they believe that attacks involving incendiary devices on planes was the work of Russia’s military intelligence agency the GRU Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England. Poland last month said that it had arrested four people suspected to be linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and was searching for two others. Lithuania’s prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene on Tuesday said that there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries, offering no elaboration. The events come as Western officials say