Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., will conclude his service as director of the Jesuit journal “La Civiltà Cattolica”, a position he has held since 2011. On October 1st, Fr. Nuno da Silva Gonçalves, S.J., will take on the role as new director. Pope Francis appoints Fr. Spadaro as a new undersecretary at the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
By Alessandro De Carolis
Pope Francis has described La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal founded in 1850, as “one-of-a-kind” that has lived through “an extremely complex and eventful epoch in the life of the world.” In words he noted last June, he describes how the journal aims to speak to everyone in “a world divided, wounded and in need of healing, peace and reconciliation.”
With this mission and hope in mind came the announcement on 14 September of the new director, Fr. Nuno da Silva Gonçalves, S.J., who will take over on October 1st from Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., who has headed the journal since 2011. Pope Francis today also appointed Fr. Spadaro as a new undersecretary at the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J.
Fr. Da Silva Gonçalves: Journal speaks of hope
The new editor-in-chief of the journal, appointed today by the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Arturo Sosa Abascal, immediately sent a note to subscribers and readers saying they are at the centre of their daily work and form a community with whom the journal wishes to strengthen ties and deepen mutual knowledge. La Civiltà Cattolica, Fr. Da Silva Gonçalves assures, wishes to offer everyone “a message of hope, engaging in a Christian reading of today’s world and with an eye to the future.”
Fr. Spadaro: A wonderful experience
In issue 4,158 of La Civiltà Cattolica, which comes out on 16 September, Fr. Spadaro offers his farewell. Under his direction the Jesuit jounral has crossed various historical milestones, such as the publication of issue 4,000 and the celebration of the journal’s 170th anniversary. Father Spadaro writes: “I conclude my service with enormous gratitude for the experience I have experienced and I pass on my responsibility with a certain amount of relief, but also with a touch of nostalgia for a task carried out with passion that has allowed me to experience wonderful years and working together with my Jesuit brethren in the editorial staff and around the world – more than 200 people – who have worked hard to make La Civiltà Cattolica a truly special publication.”
La Civiltà Cattolica was originlly published only in Italian. Fr. Spadaro expanded the journal’s outreach by launching its publication in other languages over the years that now number eight: Chinese, Korean, English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese.
