The EBU and Vatican partners are joining forces in Rome and at the Vatican on May 1 to ensure a global audience can watch Pope Benedict XVI celebrate a mass to beatify his cherished predecessor, John Paul II.

The EBU will distribute the live Vatican TV and RAI television coverage worldwide in standard and high definition, as well as Vatican Radio audio coverage for radio broadcasters. A 3D test signal will also be broadcast from the ceremony.

Sixty broadcasters are set to take the live signal via the EBU, while 45 television stations and 25 radio broadcasters are in Rome to cover the event.

Hundreds of thousands of international pilgrims are expected in Rome, where the EBU's Rome bureau is managing facilities to assist global broadcasters covering the historic event. The EBU is working thanks to the cooperation of the Vatican Holy See and the Rome municipality.

Facilities include a Media Centre inside the Vatican, with workspaces for radio and television correspondents, and two purpose-built multi-storey platforms offering studio and live camera positions: one facing St. Peter's Square, and another in Piazza Pia, at the bottom of the Via della Conciliazione. This offers an unparalleled view of the crowds on the avenue leading up to St. Peter's Basilica.

EBU's Rome bureau has also set up production and transmission facilities at the Circus Maximus for the evening prayer vigil.

The operation is a testament to EBU's logistical capabilities, particularly since it comes just two days after the royal wedding in London, an event of comparable magnitude in broadcasting terms.

Beatification will put John Paul II, known as the first 'global pope', on a fast track to sainthood, just six years after his death. It comes after Pope Benedict XVI in January approved a miracle attributed to him, when medical and theological experts credited John Paul II with curing a French nun of Parkinson's disease. Full sainthood would require a second miracle.