The Vatican, eager to build on public momentum Pope Francis
garnered on his trip to Brazil, aims to create a federation of Roman
Catholic broadcasters that can transmit images of the pontiff in Rome to
faithful across Latin America, a senior Holy See official said.In an interview, Msgr. Dario Viganò, head of the Vatican's TV operations, said a dozen Catholic broadcasters from across the region—ranging from local dioceses' TV stations to those serving entire bishops conferences—are in talks with the Vatican to band together and share the cost of essential broadcasting expenses, such as renting satellites to beam images of the pope from Rome to Buenos Aires, Tegucigalpa and other cities.
For the Vatican, the project is an early attempt to bridge the geographical gap standing between history's first Latin American pope, who lives in Vatican City, and a flock that is increasingly located south of the equator.
"There's huge demand to watch the pope and his ceremonies," Msgr. Viganò said.
Pope Francis drew three million people to Rio de Janeiro for the first overseas trip of his papacy last month, marking a stunning show of support in a region that is indispensable to the future of the Roman Catholic Church.
Many of those pilgrims, however, rarely get to see the pope when he is in Rome. Making a pilgrimage to Vatican City is too expensive for many faithful in Latin America and Africa, Catholicism's other demographic engine.
When secular broadcasters televise the pope in Latin America and other regions, the footage is usually limited to brief clips of the pontiff aboard the popemobile.
At the same time, many Catholic broadcasters are too small to shoulder the cost of renting satellites on their own.
One hour of satellite signal, Msgr. Viganò said, costs about €400,000 ($530,000).
"How is a small TV station in Honduras going to have these images on its own?" he said.
In October, Msgr. Viganò plans to meet with Catholic broadcasters around the region to discuss his plan for cost-sharing that would include contributions from the Holy See.
"Renting satellites on our own is impossible for us. But if we find some funds, and (the broadcasters) find some funds, we can get together and make it happen," he said.
The proposed model, Msgr. Viganò said, "is definitely getting a lot of attention from Pope Francis."
Msgr. Viganò is a relatively new figure around Vatican corridors. Born in Brazil, he was tapped to run the Vatican's TV operations shortly before Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world by resigning.
Msgr. Viganò's cameras captured the former pontiff's unprecedented farewell helicopter flight from the Vatican City to Castel Gandolfo—camera work that was beamed across the world.
Weeks later his cameras were trained on the balcony of St. Peter's for Pope Francis' election.