Kannada becomes 53rd language of Vatican Media

By Vatican News

Kannada has become the 53rd language of Vatican Radio – Vatican News. As of Tuesday, news in this language spoken by millions of people in India will be available on the Vatican News web portal.

The initiative arises from collaboration between the Dicastery for Communication and the Archdiocese of Bangalore, in the Indian state of Karnataka.

“I am delighted with the launch of these pages in Kannada,” remarked the Archbishop of Bangalore, Peter Machado. “News about the Pope, the Vatican, the universal Church, and the world will be of great interest and importance for the local Church in Karnataka. I thank our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis, for his continual emphasis on synodality and on bringing the Church to the peripheries. The faithful will surely benefit from reading these articles and, in a later phase when possible, also from their broadcast in audio/video. I am sure that our Communication Center of the Archdiocese of Bangalore will bring the universal Church closer to the people.”

“A new language is added to those spoken by Vatican News. It is an ancient language, yet very much alive,” highlighted Dr. Paolo Ruffini, the Prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication. “It is alive just as is the Catholic community that helps us in this small but great enterprise: to speak the language of 35 million Indians. It is an act of homage to their culture, and a service to authentic communication, a way of walking together, one step after the other. It represents great effort, certainly. But as a Kannada proverb goes ಕೈ ಕೆಸರಾದರೆ ಬಾಯಿ ಮೊಸರು, ‘Effort always pays’.”

"The decision to also add the Kannada language to the existing 52 of Vatican Radio – Vatican News to offer the word of the Pope in the mother tongue of millions of Indians," said Andrea Tornielli, Editorial Director of Vatican Media, "confirms our vocation of service to the Bishop of Rome and the Churches that form the universal Church. In a historical moment characterized by difficulties, uncertainties, wars, and violence, it is comforting that the Church bears witness to communion and sharing, strengthening the ties between Rome and the world."

“The breadth of the Church is truly wonderful. 93 years ago, Pope Pius XI entrusted Guglielmo Marconi with the task of building Vatican Radio in order to bring hope to the world,” emphasized Massimiliano Menichetti, Head of Vatican Radio – Vatican News, “to spread the Christian proclamation, and to build up the Church of Christ. In the 1990s, the waves of the Pope's Radio reached Vietnam, that Proclamation generated "radio Christians," a new living Church. Today, new technologies (shortwaves, satellites, and internet) offer us many opportunities to bring the Good News to our wounded world. The Kannada language is another example of vitality and fraternity and our wish is to continue to weave these paths in responsibility and unity.”