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Vatican News
World News

Vatican Radio to do news bulletins in Latin

The five minute programme is entitled "Hebdomada Papae", which can be translated at "This week with the Pope". It will cover news about Pope Francis - the people he meets, issues he speaks about and any trips to foreign countries.

The first edition this Saturday will include coverage of the Pope's visit to Romania and an obituary for Cardinal Elio Sgreccia who died this week at the age of 90.

Vatican Radio currently broadcasts in 35 languages to different audiences around the world. With the launch of "Hebdomada Papae" that increases to 36.

The station's editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, admits broadcasting in Latin has posed challenges for his team of journalists.

"We are not able to write in Latin or to speak in Latin. But we can get the help from the Vatican office that translates the speeches of the Pope into Latin."

Mr Tornielli says his journalists are studying the Latin script in preparation for the launch of the new programme. "There is help from the (Vatican's Latin experts) not only in the translation but also in the pronunciation."

Vatican Radio can't predict how many people will listen to the new programme but they're encouraged by the popularity of the Twitter account where Pope Francis tweets in Latin. That account has over 900,000 followers around the world.

Mr Tornielli is optimistic that some of those Latin enthusiasts will want to listen. "It means there's a little bit of interest in this dead language. For the Roman Catholic Church it is still the official language."

Already, the initiative has generated excitement at the studios of Vatican Radio. Andrea Tornielli says the challenge has united people from teams making programmes in different languages.

"It's good all different journalists from different countries in Vatican Radio are involved. It was a challenge and interesting for them to participate in this new initiative."

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