Papal Christmas Liturgies Available Live Online

Papal Christmas Liturgies Available Live Online
Language Commentaries Include Chinese, Arabic

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The various Christmas celebrations and liturgies presided over by Benedict XVI will be available live to viewers worldwide via the Internet.

People across the globe will be able to view Mass with the Pope on Friday (Christmas Eve), his address and blessing "Urbi et Orbi" ("To the city of Rome and to the World") on Christmas Day, and Mass for the World Day of Peace on Jan. 1.

This new service will be available to users through the Web pages of Vatican Radio, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and the Pope2you site.

Live commentary on the events is being offered in six languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

As well, a Chinese commentary will be available for the Christmas Eve Mass, and an Arabic commentary for the Jan. 1 liturgy.

The Vatican Television Centre and Telecom Italia are also collaborating to provide the technology to effectively allow users to access these events.

A press release from Vatican Radio noted that the service will be offered on a platform that "provides fast and effective distribution of multimedia content, making it available via web and iPhone all over the world."

It added, "The use of this platform guarantees top quality distribution of multimedia content to vast numbers of people simultaneously, including service continuity and high quality images."

The service will also use "Smooth Streaming" technology to offer the best possible quality to viewers.