After visiting the papal villas in Castel Gandolfo this past May — where he will be staying during the summer holidays — on June 19, 2025, Pope Leo XIV visited another Vatican property that enjoys extraterritoriality. It’s the radio broadcasting center of Santa Maria di Galeria, 11 miles north of the capital, in the countryside of Lazio. The last visit by a pope to this Vatican enclave of nearly 1050 acres was that of John Paul II in 1991.
Arriving at the site in the morning, the Pope first visited the facilities of Vatican Radio’s shortwave center, including the transmitter room. Pope Pius XII inaugurated it in 1957. Leo XIV also spoke with staff and inquired about the operation of the antennas, the transmissions, and the digital backup system in case of an incident. The main antenna of the complex is shaped like a cross.
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Celebrating his anniversary of priesthood with the staff
Before blessing the employees who were on duty on this solemn Feast of Corpus Christi — a public holiday in the Vatican — Leo XIV celebrated the 43rd anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood with them over light refreshments.
He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, in the Chapel of St. Monica, located opposite the Palace of the Holy Office, where he currently resides.
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During his visit, Leo XIV emphasized the “missionary” value of Vatican communications. He stressed how valuable Vatican Radio’s shortwave broadcasts had been to him when he was traveling in remote areas of Latin America and Africa. Shortwave — also known as “high frequency” — allows radio broadcasts to be transmitted over very long distances.
As part of the communication reform initiated by Pope Francis in 2015, the abolition of shortwave broadcasting had been considered for a time. Instead, it was maintained, and in 2022 added programming in Ukrainian and Russian.
A visit to the Vatican’s solar power plant
Pope Leo XIV then visited the rest of the extraterritorial area (i.e. land outside the Vatican State’s physical borders but still considered part of the Vatican State), ceded to the Vatican by Italy in 1951.
In May 2024, on the basis of the motu proprio Fratello Sole, Pope Francis decided to build a solar power plant on the 1047 acres currently used for agriculture, capable of supplying not only the radio station but also the entire Vatican City.
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This project, led by Sister Raffaela Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Archbishop Giordano Picinotti, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, is inspired by the encyclical Laudato si’ (2015) on integral ecology.
It also aims to fulfill the commitments made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to which the Holy See acceded in 2022. The project is an “agrivoltaic installation,” i.e., a field of solar panels under which agricultural activity is maintained.
