| The Pontifical Council for Social Communications has the responsibility of coordinating the seasonal telecasts of Papal ceremonies at Christmas and Easter, in addition to extraordinary events and ceremonies, broadcast around the world in Mondovisione. The telecasts are made freely available through a network of satellites from which television networks and outlets can receive and transmit the events to their own local, national or international audiences. The broadcasts are a coproduction of the Vatican Television Center (CTV) and Italy’s state television network (RAI).
The worldwide telecasts began officially in 1974 when forty-three countries linked-up with the Vatican to telecast the opening of the Holy Door and Midnight Mass on the eve of the Jubilee Year. Television commentaries in English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish have also been provided by the Vatican. Since 1984 , Archbishop John P. Foley, former president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, has provided the English-language commentary to a global audience. Archbishop Foley says that the international telecasts of papal ceremonies are the most popular religious telecasts in the world. “These telecasts”, he notes, “provide millions of people around the world, including many who are not Catholic, with a source of inspiration and consolation – and a reminder of the true purpose of life.”
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