A dozen sheets printed in black and white and disseminated at 20 cents per copy: this was how Famiglia Cristiana magazine, ardently desired by Blessed James Alberione, made its debut. The first issue, produced by the Daughters of St. Paul, was printed on 25 December 1931.
Ninety years of presence in the publishing field. Ninety years of attention to individuals and families, especially those on the peripheries of society. Ninety years of Christian formation and timely information about major national and international issues. The Founder of the Pauline Family wanted this weekly periodical to be an instrument through which to dialogue honestly and simply with readers by now accustomed to a type of reportage characterized by bitter clashes between opposing opinions.
To commemorate the periodical’s birthday, Famiglia Cristiana’s editorial staff, collaborators, readers and many members of the Pauline Family were invited to attend a special audience with Pope Francis in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Saturday, 21 May. “I join you in thanking God for the past 90 years,” the Pope said, “during which Famiglia Cristiana has accompanied so many generations of people, striving to be a friendly presence in their lives, a periodical of the people and for the people, solicitous to give the word to those who are weakest and most marginalized.” Pope Francis then went on to invite the editor, journalists and readers of the weekly publication to serve the truth through sound journalism, refusing to give space to the gossip utilized by the media and “taking no partisan stand other than that of the Gospel, listening to all voices and embodying a positive journalism that restores the heart.” The Pope concluded his heartening discourse by saying: “In a time in which people have become almost accustomed to using harshness as a yardstick for comparing ideas, what Blessed James Alberione said about your weekly magazine continues to be true: it asks permission to enter a person’s life serenely and cordially, and humbly asks to be received in the same way.”
