A friendly presence ” “

The story of Italian Catholic newspapers abroad began with the migration waves of the 20th century. They represent, still today, an important point of reference, a meeting point and a centre for evangelization for Italian communities in the Countries of the Old Continent. These communities have taken on a missionary role in the surrounding realities. Mission is a challenge which over thirty Catholic periodicals in Italian migrants communities across Europe continue to pursue despite growing difficulties, mainly due to the economic downturn. It is the case of the “Corriere degli italiani”, a historical voice of Italian Catholic missions in Switzerland. SIR Europe discussed its upcoming challenges, shared by other Catholic newspapers for Italians abroad, with the director of the Italian Federation of Catholic weeklies (FISC) Antonio Spadacini. “Corriere” just celebrated 50 years since its foundation. Do you believe that in contemporary Switzerland there is still space for an Italian-language Catholic daily?”I’ll answer with a figure: contrary to what is widely believed, the number of Italian-speaking Catholics in Switzerland is growing at a slow but constant pace, despite numerous naturalizations, which make dual nationality citizens hard to identify. Back in the year 2000, during the preparations for the Jubilee, the Pope called upon the media to be ‘a friendly presence near those seeking the Father.’ In this direction, it is interesting to establish to what extent this friendship has grown and continues to grow in the Churches of European countries, also thanks to Catholic media for Italians abroad”. The “friendly presence” is threatened by surging economic difficulties… “It’s unfortunately true. Economic difficulties are increasing, which makes the life of Catholic media ever more difficult, including migration newspapers, which are to be considered also voices of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. For this reason I believe that in the management of economic resources for the media the Swiss Church should continue basing itself on equity, transparency and justice. It is necessary to avoid all forms of inequality in the support to Catholic papers, including those based abroad, also not to cause perplexities”. Thus do your consider the support of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference obvious? “Bulletins and weeklies don’t have the means, nor the financial and human resources to compete with major newspapers, although they don’t lack the yearning to communicate the culture of wisdom, hope and joy. In concrete terms, it is a matter of communicating values that are dear to the entire Church and therefore all those who are committed in this field, which includes Catholic newspapers for migrant readership, should enjoy economic and financial support”. Is it an invitation to boost the investments in Catholic media? “Catholic media, and not only the press, are tools aimed at uniting people. These media, just as an example, have borne witness to this even when faced with natural disasters in various areas of the world. They gave detailed accounts of the needs of all the victims involved thus the amount of humanitarian aids went beyond all expectations. It proved that the power of the media can be at the service of solidarity. This effectiveness and force cannot be limited to the urgencies determined by natural disasters. Instead they should promote the culture of friendship, mutual trust and quest for the truth. They must communicate, in full respect of the rules of journalism, the reasons of Christian hope”.