Indian program on Vatican Radio marks 50 years

Two Tamil and three Hindi books on the program’s content were released on the occasion.

Vatican City:  Vatican Radio’s Indian program completed 50 years on Saturday and was celebrated with a Holy Mass followed by a ‎reception at its headquarters in Rome.

Jesuit Father Lisbert D’Souza, General Counsellor and Regional ‎Assistant for South Asia at the Jesuit Generalate in Rome, presided over a concelebrated ‎Eucharistic Celebration at the radio’s chapel, with hymns in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English ‎languages, the four language programs of South Asia.

Later, at a reception, two Tamil and three ‎Hindi books on the program’s content were released. ‎

Vatican Radio was formed on Feb. 12, 1931, under Pope Pius XI, who had entrusted the great radio ‎pioneer, Guglielmo Marconi to start a radio station for the Holy See.

However, what is called the ‎Indian program today, consisting of ‎Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English for India, came much later ‎‎in 1965 – a year after Blessed Paul VI visited India on the occasion of the International Eucharistic ‎Congress in Bombay in 1964.

But 7 years before that, an English program had been launched in‎‎1958 beaming towards South Asia.

It was in 1965 that the Indian Section was officially established ‎with a 10-minute-evening broadcast, twice weekly, in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English, which over ‎the years became a 20-minute program each, as today. ‎

There was a fifth program – Urdu – which began on Oct. 24, 1993, with a 7-minute broadcast ‎entitled, “Darwaza Khula Hai” (The Door is Open), aired on Sunday, with time taken from Hindi.

‎Urdu became a standalone program in 2013 with a 15-minute program twice a week, on ‎Sunday and Wednesday. However, Urdu was suspended in Sept. 2013. ‎

Source: Vatican Radio