Every first Sunday of the month, “L’Osservatore di strada” will be distributed in St. Peter’s Square by homeless people. It is a monthly magazine, produced by the Department of Communication, which gives a voice to the poor, who will also be its main authors. The first number comes out on June 29, the date of the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.
Vatican City () – The Vatican will also have its own street newspaper. It will be called “L’Osservatore di strada” and it will be a twelve-page monthly supplement to L’Osservatore Romano made with the poor and for the poor. The “Diary of Social Friendship and Fraternity” – as the headline says – will be on sale in Plaza San Pedro and in the surrounding streets. It will be distributed by some guests of the Palazzo Migliori, the building entrusted by the Dicastery of Charity to the Community of Sant’Egidio to give a roof to those who do not have it.
The project was announced today in a statement from the Department of Communication, explaining that the first issue of the newspaper will be distributed at the Angelus on June 29, the date of the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. After this first date, the newspaper will be published every first Sunday of the month, both in print and online. “This project”, explains the note, “aims to give a voice to those who are not usually heard, to the poor, to people wounded by life, to those who are discarded and excluded. A newspaper through which to recognize and restore the right to speak to those whom contemporary society treats as ‘discarded’, and which highlights the heritage of experiences, knowledge and values of which they are custodians”.
Vendors will be able to keep the money (an offering at will) they receive from distributing the newspaper. But the poor will also be protagonists in its realization: the intention is “to give a way of expression to those who have a talent for writing or drawing or simply a story to tell or an opinion to express”. And if someone lacks the “tools”, the newspaper will provide them, thanks to the participation of intellectuals and personalities from the world of culture (writers, poets, journalists, photographers, cartoonists, directors, actors, musicians…). They “will make their art available, to make a contribution together that is the result, not of a cold mediation at the table, but of a direct, face-to-face relationship. All at the same level. To all, the same dignity. Everyone, the same respect.”
Each month a special space will be provided for the voice of migrants, who will be able to tell their story and their hopes. In the central pages, the reflection on the theme of the edition will be in charge of Pope Francis, through an extensive anthology of his words and gestures. In addition, two entire pages will be dedicated to the “songs of the peripheries”, a collection of stories, reflections, poems, drawings made by people assisted by associations and ecclesial groups or simply found on the street”
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