The latest readings by environmental agencies show that electromagnetic waves from a Vatican Radio transmission tower near Rome respect legal limits, the Vatican and the Italian government said Wednesday.
ROME — The latest readings by environmental agencies show that electromagnetic waves from a Vatican Radio transmission tower near Rome respect legal limits, the Vatican and the Italian government said Wednesday.
A week earlier, a Rome court convicted a Vatican cardinal and a top Vatican Radio official of polluting the environment because of the emissions.
Cardinal Roberto Tucci, who was heading the Vatican Radio's management committee, and the Rev. Pasquale Borgomeo, the station's director general, were also sentenced to 10 days in prison. The sentences were immediately suspended.
A Vatican-Italian government commission was set up as part of a 2001 agreement between both sides to monitor tower emissions. The Vatican has long contended that the measurements prove it has been respected the limit since signing the agreement.
The next readings are due in the fall.
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Cristina Tabano, a lawyer from Codacons, a consumer group that joined in a civil suit attached to the trial, noted that the trial was concerned with violations before the joint commission was established.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican Radio's program director, said the radio was following international regulations -- not Italian law -- before the 2001 agreement.
He told The Associated Press that the radio will further reduce emissions by switching some of its transmitters on the tower to digital radio technology, which allows lower-powered broadcasts.
Source: Associated Press
