{"id":64114,"date":"2025-10-03T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=64114"},"modified":"2025-10-01T06:42:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:42:46","slug":"vatican-radio-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/vatican-radio-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Vatican Radio – Then and Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0contributor\u00a0Dan Greenall<\/a>, who shares the following post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

When I began shortwave listening back in 1969, Vatican Radio was one of the first stations I came across. That same year, the late Dr. Richard E. Wood authored a book called \u201cShortwave Voices of the World\u201d<\/em> in which he writes some notes about the station that you can read here [PDF]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, Vatican Radio was established in 1931 by none other than Guglielmo Marconi. It wasn\u2019t until sometime after World War 2 that the present-day transmitter site was set up at Santa Maria di Galeria. A nice view of it is pictured on this 1970 QSL card.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>By the early 1970\u2019s, short English language broadcasts to North America were still included in their schedule as you can see from these pages in the 1972 World Radio TV Handbook [click to enlarge]<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 1983, Ken MacHarg, a former host of the DX Partyline on HCJB, was the author of a now out-of-print book entitled \u201cTune In The World<\/em>\u201d. Read Ken\u2019s comments about Vatican Radio here.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Though their published interval signal (see WRTVH) was \u201cChristus Vincit\u201d, Vatican Radio could also be recognized by the bells of St. Peter\u2019s, which you will hear in this recording from 1971 that I made from my listening post in Ontario, Canada:\u00a0https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/vatican-radio-1971<\/a><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/vatican-radio-1971\/Vatican%20Radio%201971.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

In more recent times, I have read that shortwave broadcasts to North and South America, as well as Europe, ended in 2012. In addition, English language shortwave transmissions to Asia ended in 2017, though they could still be found online. A list of their current English language broadcasts, as found on short-wave.info is shown here:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is a recording made August 11, 2025 using a remote SDR in the UK, complete with \u201cChristus Vincit\u201d interval signal, as they began their African service on 9705 kHz.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Vatican-Radio-African-service-via-kernow.hopto_.org_2025-08-11T19_59_31Z_9705.000_am.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Also included is a recording from September 30, 2025, as they ended a transmission on 15595 kHz.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Vatican-Radio-sign-off-21114.proxy_.kiwisdr.com_2025-09-30T16_28_34Z_15595.00_am.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor\u00a0Dan Greenall, who shares the following post: When I began shortwave listening back in 1969, Vatican Radio was one of the first stations I came across. That same year, the late Dr. Richard E. Wood authored a book called \u201cShortwave Voices of the World\u201d in which he writes some notes about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3194,3,305,288,746,43],"tags":[10271,4091,1302,4106,4082,1186],"class_list":["post-64114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-posts","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-recordings","category-shortwave-radio","tag-dan-greenall","tag-radio-history","tag-radio-nostalgia","tag-recordings","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-vatican-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-gG6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63824,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/dan-shares-recordings-of-the-golden-days-of-european-shortwave-listening\/","url_meta":{"origin":64114,"position":0},"title":"Dan Shares Recordings of the Golden Days of European Shortwave Listening","author":"Thomas","date":"August 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post: Europe on shortwave in the 1970\u2019s by Dan Greenall During the golden years of shortwave listening, many European countries had an international shortwave service and broadcast programs to North America (where I live) in English. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Radio-Prague-QSL.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Radio-Prague-QSL.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Radio-Prague-QSL.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Radio-Prague-QSL.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Radio-Prague-QSL.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Radio-Prague-QSL.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64341,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/algeria-on-shortwave-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":64114,"position":1},"title":"Algeria on Shortwave – Then and Now","author":"Thomas","date":"October 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, for sharing the following guest post: Algeria on Shortwave - Then and Now by Dan Greenall In the early 1970s, Radiodiffusion-Television Algerienne ran a modest shortwave service (no English) mainly for North Africa, the Middle East,\u00a0and Europe. A copy of their schedule\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55615,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/02\/carlos-shortwave-art-and-recording-of-vatican-radio-february-6-2023-turkey-syria-earthquake\/","url_meta":{"origin":64114,"position":2},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Shortwave Art and recording of Vatican Radio (February 6, 2023–Turkey\/Syria Earthquake)","author":"Thomas","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares\u00a0his radio log art of Radio Vatican. Carlos notes: Excerpt from today's Vatican Radio program, broadcast in Portuguese on shortwave, bringing a message from Pope Francis in solidarity with the thousands of victims of the earthquake that hit Turkey and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Carlos-Latuff-EarthQuake-Turkey-Syria-Radio-Vatican-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Carlos-Latuff-EarthQuake-Turkey-Syria-Radio-Vatican-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Carlos-Latuff-EarthQuake-Turkey-Syria-Radio-Vatican-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Carlos-Latuff-EarthQuake-Turkey-Syria-Radio-Vatican-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Carlos-Latuff-EarthQuake-Turkey-Syria-Radio-Vatican-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5886,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/vatican-radio-breaking-news-broken\/","url_meta":{"origin":64114,"position":3},"title":"Vatican Radio: breaking news broken?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A few moments ago,\u00a0Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected Pope, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas, and taking the name Pope Francis I. When breaking news like this is happens,\u00a0I often turn to shortwave radio to hear it \"from the source;\" what better station for news about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis I","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/PopeFrancisI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63579,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/hcjb-quito-ecuador-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":64114,"position":4},"title":"HCJB Quito, Ecuador – Then and Now","author":"Thomas","date":"August 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes: In the 1970s, the powerful signal from radio station HCJB, the Voice of the Andes, in Quito, Ecuador, could be heard with station identifications (similar to this one circa 1971) being given between programs. I am led to believe that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HCJB-1970-QSL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HCJB-1970-QSL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HCJB-1970-QSL.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HCJB-1970-QSL.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HCJB-1970-QSL.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65072,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/taiwan-on-shortwave-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":64114,"position":5},"title":"Taiwan on Shortwave \u2013 Then and Now","author":"Thomas","date":"January 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dan Greenall For nearly a half-century, The Voice of Free China broadcast programs via shortwave to a worldwide audience from Taipei, Taiwan. As a relatively new SWL in the early 1970\u2019s, I was always excited to hear English language programs from that part of the world, far away from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Voice-of-Free-China-QSL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Voice-of-Free-China-QSL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Voice-of-Free-China-QSL.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Voice-of-Free-China-QSL.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Voice-of-Free-China-QSL.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64123,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64114\/revisions\/64123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}