Pope Francis pays tribute to Vatican newspaper, Pius XII’s magisterium

July 02, 2021

In an interview published on L’Osservatore Romano’s 160th anniversary, Pope Francis praised the Vatican newspaper as “a newspaper that forms. A newspaper that, in addition to the function of evangelization, also has a very important diplomatic dimension. Especially in relation to the spread of the Pope’s magisterium.”

“I think of Pius XII who spoke of all possible themes, his was a very rich magisterium,” the Pope told Francesco Zippel of Dazzle Communication, which is producing a documentary on the newspaper. Pope Francis described his predecessor, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, as “a Pope who met all, and all came to him . . . artists, intellectuals, midwives.”

“I know the expression is a bit ambiguous, but I like to call L’Osservatore Romano ‘the party newspaper,’” Pope Francis said. “Even in Argentina, I read the weekly Spanish-language edition in its entirety, because I know that it is a link with the Holy See, with the magisterium and with the life of the Church, with the history of the Church.”

 

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Further information:

• 160 anni di storia guardando al futuro (L'Osservatore Romano, p. 1)