Pope Francis sent a message to the Jesuit Review La Civiltà Cattolica, on the occasion of the resumption of the publications in Spanish, in the year in which the Society will observe the 500^th anniversary of Saint Ignatius’ conversion. Spanish is the eighth language of the Review, founded in 1850 and which, since 2017, has initiated a process of dematerialization. The contents will be fully accessible and for free.

“The Spanish edition of La Civiltà Cattolica is taking up its publications again in a completely renewed format and for free, through its new Website: https://laciviltacattolica.es,” announced today on his Twitter account Father Antonio Spadaro, director of the periodical, “and it does so with a special message of Pope Francis.”

Spiritual, Community, and Intellectual Experience

 “My best wishes to the Spanish edition of La Civiltà Cattolica, which is now resuming its publications!” says the Holy Father in his opening words.

“Yours is a unique Review of its kind, and not only because it has already completed 170 years of life. More than a review, it’s a true spiritual, community and intellectual experience, whose center is a Jesuit Community, the College of Writers, which coexists and discerns, selects and elaborates the subjects to be addressed,” he points out.

“With the editions in Italian, English, French, Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, you already reach a wide public. Speaking in Spanish now, the Review will enlarge the number of its readers and will open to new challenges. You have before you the readers of 21 Spanish-speaking countries, notes the Pontiff.

Moreover, the Holy Father invites them to: “Row, row with passion and determination in Peter’s boat, as good Jesuits. Row with your pen, dialoguing with all, pointing to the open sea.”

Seek God Where He Lets Himself Be Found”

Pope Francis encourages them to “Seek God where He lets Himself be found, particularly in those that hunger and thirst for that truth, which is translated into works of justice and mercy. Seek Him in the different realms of philosophical and theological reflection of the peoples of Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean, in their cultures, in the ambits of science, art, and social and political commitment.”

Finally, the Holy Father stresses that especially “with your reflection, in this time of crisis, you put at the disposition of all mankind the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, as a resource of salvation for our time.”