Exactly 90 years ago, on the evening of October 12, 1931, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, first erected on a sugar bottle in Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, was first brought to light. 700 meters above sea level, a 38-meter-high statue of the Savior rises into the sky, “illuminated” from Rome by Guglielmo Marconi, who had also been “committed” to the Vatican Radio eight months earlier.
P. Vértesaljai László SJ – Vatican
On Aparecida’s Mother’s Day, her only son is welcomed
Saint VI said in 1965: “The image of Christ’s outstretched arm protects this beautiful city and through it all of Brazil.” Then Pope Paul in 1981 the second saint. Pope John Paul continued: “On the altar formed by a huge extension, among the natural wonders created by the Word of God, in the heart of Rio de Janeiro stands the statue of Christ the Redeemer.” On October 12, the Day of Remembrance of Our Lady of Aparecida and this Feast of the Patron of Brazil was chosen from the beginning for the inauguration of the statue of the Son of the Savior: On Mother’s Day they salute their only son. This is what happened now, today in the Brazilian capital of nearly seven million, when the great anniversary was celebrated. Due to the bad and foggy weather in Rio de Janeiro today, Thanksgiving Mass was held at St. Sebastian’s Cathedral. Archbishop Joan Tempesta of Ourani, bishop of the city, said, “This day is a very important date for us, because the statue of Christ the Redeemer is a symbol of Catholic Brazil. Each of its stones symbolizes the Brazilians who once had to come together to build such beauty.”
How and how many Brazilians were ignited in their souls, then hope and confidence!
The statue of Christ the Redeemer is closely associated with the 20th century popes and most prominently with Vatican Radio. Italian Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Guglielmo Marconi, one of the inventors of radio, creator of Vatican Radio, “remotely transformed” from the living room of his apartment in Rome via Via dei Condottin, and lit the lights of a statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro made according to his plans. This “remote diversion” provided an opportunity for the great physicist to prove to the whole world the tremendous power of radio waves capable of activating the lighting system on the other side of the Earth. On this festive occasion, Marconi invited “Maestro” and his wife, the Brazilian ambassador in Rome, to their apartment. At the agreed time, the three pressed the switch together, which, by radio waves, clothed the city lord, Christ the Redeemer, in a yellowish-white light. How many and how many Brazilians ignited in their souls then the hope and confidence that they are truly with them in the Lord! It was a global event at the time because many questioned the possibility and efficacy of these “communications”. Livio Spinelli, director of the park of the Marconi Museum in Santa Marinella, recalls in antiquity: “Those who trusted Marconi the most were not professionals, physicists and fellow engineers, but the Popes of Rome.”
This light will illuminate the city of Rio de Janeiro and thus spread throughout Brazil
The miraculous lighting event of the Rome-Rio de Janeiro Bridge was updated by the founding Pope of Vatican Radio: “The operation of the illumination of the statue of Christ the Redeemer by radio waves is a new scientific miracle among the shadows.” Since then, popes have often directed their thoughts on faith to Christ the Redeemer in Corcovado, not infrequently on the occasion of the inauguration of new lighting systems for sculpture. This is what happened in 1965 on New Year’s Day, when he was the sixth. Pope Paul sent a radio message to the Brazilian nation on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Rio de Janeiro. “We sincerely wish, as a symbol of the blessings that the Lord gives to His faithful children by the Blessed Virgin Mary, this The light illuminates the city of Rio de Janeiro and thus can spread throughout Brazil.”
Salute to the faith of science
In 1981, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the statue of Saint II. John Paul repeated Marconi’s earlier gesture to begin lighting the statue of Rio from the observatory workshop of the papal holiday home at Castel Gandolfo. In his testimony at the time, the Pope said “Science was a sanctification of faith, what tremendous progress has been made in these fifty years through scientific and technical research. What once worked almost miraculously in the field of telecommunications may today seem like an ordinary and mundane moment.” “. On January 1, 2015, Pope Francis sent a video message to VI. Like Pope Paul’s previous radio address, marking the anniversary of the founding of Rio de Janeiro and the inauguration of new lighting for the statue. For the Pope, enlightenment symbolizes the light “that the Lord wants to kindle in our lives.”
