Pretty fascinating little CNS story on the Vatican switchboard and phone service. Lots of tasty little nuggets.

"Working at the (Vatican’s) call center is a very delicate job, and we would never think of putting in automated operators," the brother of the Society of St. Paul told Catholic News Service.

About a dozen nuns who are members of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master work the switchboards 24 hours a day in six-hour shifts. They come from such countries as South Korea, Malta, Poland, Italy, India, Philippines and Brazil, and they speak a myriad of languages.

Mornings are their "rush hour" with at least six nuns working, while only two or three need to be on duty for afternoons.

The Vatican’s telecommunications department moved into its new headquarters in November so its facilities are sleek, comfortable and modern. They even include historical items such as papal telephones and early technological equipment on display in glass cases throughout the three-story brick building.

The new call center has a giant, flat-screen television in the front of the room so the nuns can follow events being aired on CTV, the Vatican Television Station, and answer people’s questions about a ceremony or audience under way.

Those sisters are a branch of the Daughters of St. Paul:

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