ITALY INVESTIGATING CANCER LINK TO VATICAN RADIO ANTENNAS

LONDON (CWNews.com) - Italian officials are investigating claims of a link between elevated cancer rates in a suburb of Rome and nearby transmitters operated by Vatican Radio, said a report in the London Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday.

The antenna farm at Santa Maria di Galera, near the northern Rome suburb of Cesano, broadcasts Vatican Radio programs all over the world. Residents of Cesano have complained to local magistrates that the 7,500 deaths due to tumors in Cesano was 30 percent higher than the national average.

A preliminary inquiry in the area has already found that electromagnetic energy was almost three times the legal limit. Environmental groups reported cases of computers turning on by themselves, telephone calls repeating radio broadcasts, and television signals being jammed.

Vatican lawyers responded to inquiries by the Italian government by pointing out that under the 1929 Lateran Treaty, those who exercise Vatican activities are not liable under Italian law. In addition, a separate 1951 agreement recognizes the extra-territoriality of the antenna complex. The lawyers also added that the health dangers of radio waves have not been legally proven.

Local magistrates have appealed to the country's Foreign Ministry to intervene to help resolve the situation.

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