Pope visits Vatican Radio transmission center, site
ROME (CNS) -- Almost a year after Pope Francis set up a commission to develop a large solar-panel array on Vatican property
Vatican Solar Energy (Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Pope Francis decreed Wednesday that an area of northern Rome, long the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers there, will now house a field of solar panels to fuel Vatican City.
In a decree, he said the solar energy generated would be sufficient to fuel not only the radio operations there but the Vatican City State itself. The 430-hectare (1,063-acre) Santa Maria di Galeria site, which enjoys extraterritorial status, was inaugurated in 1957 as a base for Vatican Radio.
Nearly one year has passed since Pope Francis revealed his plan for the Vatican state to transition to solar energy as its main power source, as outlined in the 2024 motu proprio Fratello Sole, or “Brother Sun.”
The future installation would be projected to “ensure, not only the power supply of the radio station existing there, but also the complete energy support of Vatican City State,” he wrote. Fast forward to 2025, and the project is completed.
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