Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi has publicly thanked the European Broadcasting Union for producing the live coverage of the Pope’s landmark visit to the Central African Republic.

Speaking at the start of Pope Francis’ press conference on board the Papal plane on Monday (30 November), Lombardi paid tribute to the EBU: "I want, also on behalf of our colleagues, to thank the EBU which organized the live coverage from the Central Africa Republic. The TV pictures that were seen around the world were possible thanks to the European Broadcasting Union. The EBU marks its 65^th year of activity, and it is clear it is still needed, and we are therefore very grateful to them.’’  

Eurovision’s Rome team led by Elena Pinardi worked closely with the Vatican Television Centre (VACTV), under often challenging conditions, to bring comprehensive coverage as the Pope visited the conflict-torn nation brushing aside security concerns to appeal for peace and reconciliation.

The historic images of the Pope as he visited a Mosque where he kneeled to pray, filmed by the Vatican Television Centre (VACTV), were quickly turned around on the pool feed thanks to the close collaboration between CTV and the Eurovision teams on the ground. CTV also provided high-quality HD images of the Imam Tidiani Moussa Naibi and Pope Francis riding together on the Popemobile and greeting the mainly-Muslim crowd outside.

The CTV coverage showed one of the what the Pope called one of the ‘’small but necessary’’ gestures to bring people towards a path of reconciliation and brotherhood, during his on-flight press conference on board the flight back to Rome Monday evening.

Eurovision’s Rome bureau worked closely with other EBU units in one of the world’s poorest cities to provide HD live coverage of the many events during the Pope’s visit to CAR including a meeting with hundreds of families and orphans displaced by violence; the Mass at Bangui’s Cathedral where Pope Francis opened the first Holy Door kicking off the Jubilee Year of Mercy and a football stadium Mass.

The images, which included the iconic shot of Pope Francis pushing open the Holy Door were carried live around the world, and also relayed to the Central African TV, to ensure the country’s citizens could witness in the historic event.

Eurovision Production Coordination (EPC) provided ready to deploy state-of-the-art equipment, and the Eurovision Special Events teams worked seamlessly with the Rome HB crew to ensure the live coverage of the Pope’s 3-country tour reached the Media Centers in Kenya, Uganda and C.A.R. and ensured journalists were able to provide live programme inserts and reports from Nairobi, Kampala and Bangui.