VATICAN CITY, Feb 4: It may not seem like much of a publishing upheaval, but the Vatican newspaper’s switch to colour pictures is part of a quiet media revolution for that conservative institution.

The change over the weekend at L’Osservatore Romano is the latest instituted by a new and, by Vatican standards, relatively young editor, 55-year-old Gian Maria Vian, to broaden its appeal.

He took over the reins of the Vatican’s 147-year-old mouthpiece, considered by many in the past a bland broadsheet at best, three months ago with a papal mandate to rejuvenate it.

Granted, there were only two colour pictures in Sunday’s edition one on the front page and one on the back page and both were, predictably, of Pope Benedict.

In the past, colour pictures were only published in the daily edition on special occasions.

Other changes include more articles by women a specific request by the Pope more international cover, and a more reader-friendly layout and typeface.

“The newspaper had to be renewed,” Vian, who has worked as a historian, journalist and university professor, said in an interview.—Reuters