News Brief

Vatican Radio Opens to Commercials

From July 6 until September 27, 2009, Radio Vatican will broadcast commercials in 5 languages (Italian, English, Spanish, French and German) for the Italian Electricity Company Enel on FM band. The operation should yield a benefit “between 100,000 and 200,000 € per year”, in a “yearly budget of 20 million €, according to Fr. Federico Lombardi, the spokesman for the Holy See.  This contribution which is “neither insignificant nor substantial” should be used “for new initiatives, and new programs”, he told the press.

Paradoxically, while praising the merits of the electricity produced by Enel, the leaders of Radio Vatican are studying means of doing without it. Indeed, Bishop Renato Boccardo, Secretary of the Governatorate of Vatican City State, made known that  a project of installation of solar panels on the location of the radio antennas, north of Rome, was presently being studied. (Source: Imedia)

Churches for Sale in Quebec

In less than 50 years, religious practice in Quebec dropped from 80% to 5%. And churches are up for sale. Thus the Church of Saint Mary Margaret in Magog, closed in 2007, will be reconverted into a library in 2010. In Sherbrooke, the restaurant “l’Olive bleue” was built in a former church, and since last April, the Church of Christ the King has been turned into a climbing center. Likewise, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, which closed its doors in 1995, has become an entertainment hall, “Le Vieux clocher de Sherbrooke”. In Rimouski, a church of the 19th century became the Regional Museum of Rimouski. The Church of St. John Bosco, in Montebello, will be transformed into a theater. In the Saint-Roch district, in Quebec city, the Church of St. John of the Cross has been remodeled into apartments. Other churches are now garages or pubs. In Three Rivers, the Church of St. Cecilia, one of the most beautiful in the city, and which is celebrating its 375th anniversary, is about to be sold to Spect-Arts to become an entertainment hall. (Source: Apic)

American Bishop Sentenced because his Bells Ring!

A bishop has been given a 10-day suspended prison sentence because of his cathedral bells ringing. In a judgment given on June 3, the tribunal decided to limit to 60 the amount of decibels which bells can reach, and only for 2 minutes on Sundays and on certain feast days. Up to now, they struck the hour between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. The neighbors for the Cathedral of Christ the King sued so that they would no longer hear bells ring. Bishop Richard Painter, of Phoenix, Arizona, said that he was going to appeal. (Source: Apic)

The Pope’s Vacations

For the third time, Benedict XVI will spend part of his vacation in the Vale of Aosta, in the village of Combes d’Introd, from July 13 until July 29. During his sojourn, on July 19, the pope will go to Romano Canavese, in the diocese of Ivrea, a little village where the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was born. The pope will pray the Angelus on the Piazza Ruggia, in front of the Church of Sts. Peter and Soluteur. The next Sunday, July 26, the pope will pray the Angelus at his residence in Combes. General audiences will not be permitted on July 15, 22 and 29, and will be resumed on August 5. Upon his return from the Vale of Aosta, the pope will go directly to his residence in Castel Gandolfo. During the summer, there will be no private or special audiences.

Benedict XVI’s vacation, in the company of his brother Msgr Georg Ratzinger, are devoted to prayer and writing. During these two weeks of vacation spent in the mountains of the Vale of Aosta, the pope should mainly rest and take a few excursions in the area. (Source: Imedia)