Vatican Radio, the official broadcasting service of the Holy See, has decided to carry advertising jingles for the first time in its almost 80 year history, the station's director-general and Vatican Spokesman Federico Lombardi said Tuesday.
The move - designed to meet rising costs of running the station - comes three years after the Vatican ruled out broadcasting adverts on the service.
At the time Lombardi claimed the radio's audience - divided into some 40 language groups in scores of countries - was too geographically and ethnically diverse to appeal to advertisers.
Costing around 21.4 million euros to run but generating almost no revenue, Vatican Radio has long been a drain on the Holy See's finances.
However, its existence is never questioned because it is seen as playing a crucial role for the Catholic Church by spreading the words of the pope around the world.
The station employs around 200 journalists and transmits news, religious celebrations and music programmes worldwide in 47 languages.
Italian electricity utility ENEL will be the first company to take advantage of the move, broadcasting ad campaigns in five languages from July 6 to September 27.
''We are proud to have been chosen as the first advertiser for a radio station that is among the most wide-reaching in the world,'' said ENEL President Piero Gnudi.
Vatican Radio was established by the Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, in 1931 and was inaugurated with a message by Pope Piux XI.
