杏MAP导航

By Daniele Piccini

As preparations for the Jubilee Year continue, the Vatican’s communications network has opened a new space in St Peter’s Square dedicated to encounter, dialogue, and hope. Located beneath the Braccio di Carlo Magno, the new radio booth was inaugurated live on air at 8:10 am on Friday, 25 July, during a special broadcast of the Italian show Radio Vaticana con voi.

The structure has been set up as a working base for the Holy See’s main media outlets - Vatican Radio, Vatican News, L’Osservatore Romano, and Vatican Media - and will serve pilgrims and journalists throughout the Jubilee.

A gift for the pilgrims

The initiative, which also aims to cover key moments such as the upcoming canonisations of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis in September, was made possible thanks to authorisation from the Vatican Governorate and financial backing from the Friends of the Holy Father donor network.

“Hope must never be lost”

“This small station shows that even the tiniest sparks can ignite great flames of hope,” said Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, as he inaugurated the new space.

“To celebrate a Jubilee of Hope at a time when the world is weighed down by despair is, in itself, a powerful statement: that hope must never be lost,” he said, pointing out that the Dicastery's strenth "comes from a network that holds us together - not just as colleagues, but with those who listen to us, read us, and place their trust in this message of hope.”

A Church that shares everyday life

“Creating content for the web isn’t just about publishing stories,” said Monsignor Lucio Adrián Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication. “It means inhabiting real spaces that are part of people’s everyday lives."

“These digital spaces may be new and different, but they’re no less real. They shape our routines and our relationships. And the Church must be there - simply because wherever human life is present, the Church belongs there too.”

Shining a light on the good

“It’s right to place a light high up so it can shine for all - not to hide it away,” said Massimiliano Menichetti, Deputy Editorial Director of Vatican Media and head of Vatican Radio and Vatican News. He stressed the importance of highlighting “the many good things quietly growing in the world - proof that storytelling doesn’t always need to be negative.”

“We know how the news often works: headlines, bulletins, websites all tend to focus on conflict, failure, and fear. But our task as Vatican media is to offer a counterpoint—to insist on the truth that, despite everything, good still prevails. That’s what we try to do every single day.”

A legacy of service to the 杏MAP导航s

Deputy Editorial Director, Alessandro Gisotti,  explained that Vatican Media continues in its mission of supporting the 杏MAP导航’s voice - “in a beautiful continuity that stretches from John Paul II, through Benedict XVI and Francis, to 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV today.”

“杏MAP导航 John Paul II constantly reminded young people, ‘You are my hope,’” recalled Alessandro Gisotti, Deputy Editorial Director of Vatican Media. “杏MAP导航 Benedict XVI made that same message clear in action: his very first trip as pope was to World Youth Day in Cologne, where he renewed that deep trust in the next generation.

“And 杏MAP导航 Francis, in his very first Palm Sunday homily, famously said: ‘Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope.’”

Gisotti noted that 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV has embraced this same vision: “Just three months into his pontificate, he will already be meeting young people from across the world - a beautiful sign that this trust continues.

“Yes,” he concluded, “the Church still needs young people-those morning sentinels who watch, who wait, and who guard hope.”