Stations of the Cross

Is the vatican hazardous to your health? That’s what Italy’s Environment Minister Willer Bordon is alleging, and the Roman Catholic Church is not pleased. The dispute, which broke out in early March, centers on allegedly excessive levels of electromagnetic radiation produced by Vatican Radio’s powerful transmitters. The Vatican claims that as a sovereign state under a 1929 treaty it is not subject to Italian prosecutors. Bordon says that unless emissions are reduced by the end of this week, he will order electricity suppliers to cut off the station’s power.

The Jesuit-run radio outlet has several dozen transmitters on a plot 30 km from Rome. They are used to broadcast the Church’s message in 35 languages around the world. Residents of two nearby towns have been complaining for years that the signals disrupt doorbells, phones and television sets. Only recently have the health aspects of electromagnetic pollution, dubbed by the Italians elettrosmog, become an issue. A consumer group claims that communities near the transmitters have higher incidences of leukemia among children than those in the rest of the region around Rome, a statistic contested by the Vatican. Two Jesuit officials and one technical expert at the station were supposed to appear in court two weeks ago to answer charges of “dangerous showering of objects,” but the hearing was postponed for several months.

Political analysts speculate that debate may have been provoked to help Bordon and the governing center-left coalition in May’s general elections. “There’s a lot of propaganda here,” says Massimiliano Valente, an expert in relations between Italy and the Holy See. “A minister can’t deal with a sovereign state without following the diplomatic channels.” Vatican officials have repeatedly quoted scientists claiming there is no link between electromagnetic transmissions and health problems. The officials point out that a special bilateral commission began negotiations on the problem more than a year ago. They also note that the transmitters fall well within the limits for electromagnetic emissions established by the European Union, and that Italy is the only E.U. country with more stringent rules. “We’re in good company on an international and European level,” says Vatican Radio’s general director, Father Pasquale Borgomeo, one of the Jesuits who was to have been questioned. “How can we think that 14 out of 15 countries are being run by irresponsible or incompetent people?”

The dispute will likely be settled diplomatically, but not before causing at least some embarrassment to Pope John Paul II, who has used the transmitters in question to talk about respect for the environment. To the Environment Minister, though, it’s simply a matter of law. “In Italian territory, under Italian jurisdiction, Italian law is being clearly violated,” says Bordon. “You can say the speed limit on the highway is not right. But if you break it, the police are going to stop you. Even if you’re an ambassador.” But what if you’re the Pope?