HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''L'Osservatore Romano'' is the daily newspaper of
Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
which reports on the activities of the
Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not an official publication, a role reserved for the ''
Acta Apostolicae Sedis ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'' (Latin for 'Acts of the Apostolic See'), often cited as ''AAS'', is the official gazette of the Holy See, appearing about twelve times a year.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), a ...
'', which acts as a
government gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...
.John Hooper, "Behind the scenes at the pope's newspaper"
in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 20 July 2009
The views expressed in the ''Osservatore'' are those of individual authors unless they appear under the specific titles "Nostre Informazioni" or "Santa Sede". Available in nine languages, the paper prints two
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
mottos under the masthead of each edition: () and (). The current editor-in-chief is .


Editions

''L'Osservatore Romano'' is published in eight different languages (listed by date of first publication): * Daily and weekly in Italian (1861/1950) * Weekly in French (1949) * Weekly in English (1968) * Weekly in Spanish (1969) * Weekly in Portuguese (1970) * Weekly in German (1971) * Monthly in Polish (1980) * Weekly in
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
(2007) The daily Italian edition of ''L'Osservatore Romano'' is published in the afternoon, but with a
cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
of the following day, a convention that sometimes results in confusion. The weekly English edition is distributed in more than 129 countries, including
English-speaking countries The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...
and locales where English is used as the general means of communication.


''L'Osservatore della Domenica''

''L'Osservatore della Domenica'' is a weekly publication in
Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
. It is the Sunday supplement to the ''L'Osservatore Romano''. Founded in 1934, an illustrated weekly was published with the title ''L'Osservatore romano della Domenica'' (since 1951 ''L'Osservatore della Domenica''). In 1979 it was reduced to a Sunday supplement.


''L'Osservatore di Strada''

Since 29 June 2022, another edition of ''L'Osservatore Romano'' has been published: ''L'Osservatore di Strada''. It is published on the first Sunday of every month. On 29 June 2022, the first printed edition was distributed to those present at St. Peter's Square. On the same day, at the end of the Pope's service, the Pope made a remark at the end of his Marian prayer praising the newspaper.


History


19th century

The first issue of ''L'Osservatore Romano'' was published in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
on 1 July 1861, a few months after the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
was proclaimed on 17 March 1861. The original intent of the newspaper was unabashedly polemical and propagandistic in defence of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
, adopting the name of a private pamphlet financed by a French Catholic legitimist group. The 18 September 1860 defeat of papal troops at Castelfidardo substantially reduced the temporal power of the Pope, prompting Catholic intellectuals to present themselves in Rome for the service of
Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
. This agenda supported the notion of a daily publication to champion the opinions of the Holy See. By July 1860, the deputy Minister of the Interior, Marcantonio Pacelli (grandfather of the future Pope Pius XII), had plans to supplement the official bulletin of the Catholic Church ''Giornale di Roma'' with a semi-official "rhetorical" publication. In early 1861, controversialist Nicola Zanchini and journalist Giuseppe Bastia were granted editorial direction of Pacelli's newspaper. Official permission to publish was sought on 22 June 1861, and four days later, on 26 June, Pius IX gave his approval for the regulation of ''L'Osservatore''. The first edition was entitled "''L'Osservatore Romano'' – a political and moral paper" and cost five baiocchi. The "political and moral paper" epithet was dropped before 1862, adding instead the two Latin mottoes that still appear under the masthead today. After the breach of Porta Pia by Italian troops in September 1870, ''L'Osservatore Romano'' solidified its opposition to the Kingdom of Italy, affirming obedience to the Pope and adherence to his directives, stating it would remain faithful "to that unchangeable principle of religion and morals which recognises as its sole depository and claimant the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth".


20th century

The Osservatore continued to be published as a newspaper in Vatican City, but in 1904, '' Acta Sanctae Sedis'', which had existed since 1865, was declared the formal organ of the Holy See in that all documents printed in it were considered "authentic and official". ''Acta Sanctae Sedis'' ceased publication four years later and on 29 September 1908 ''
Acta Apostolicae Sedis ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'' (Latin for 'Acts of the Apostolic See'), often cited as ''AAS'', is the official gazette of the Holy See, appearing about twelve times a year.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), a ...
'' became the official publication of the Holy See. The English weekly edition was first published on 4 April 1968. On 7 January 1998, that edition became the first to be printed outside of Rome, when for North American subscribers, it began to be printed in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
. The edition was printed by the Cathedral Foundation, publishers of '' The Catholic Review''.


21st century

As of 1 July 2011, the English-language edition of the ''L'Osservatore Romano'' for North American subscribers is once again published in Rome. In the 21st century, the paper has taken a more objective and subdued stance than at the time of its foundation, priding itself in "presenting the genuine face of the church and the ideals of freedom", following the statement by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in an October 2006 speech inaugurating a new exhibit dedicated to the founding and history of the newspaper. He further described the publication as "an instrument for spreading the teachings of the successor of Peter and for information about church events". On 27 June 2015,
Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
, in an apostolic letter, established the Secretariat for Communications, a new part of the Roman Curia, and included ''L'Osservatore Romano'' under its management.


Relation with the Magisterium

It is a common error to assume that the contents of the ''L'Osservatore Romano'' represent the views of the Magisterium, or the official position of the
Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
. In general, this is not the case, and the only parts of the ''Osservatore'' which represent the views of the Holy See are those that appear under the titles "Nostre Informazioni" or "Santa Sede".Matthew Bunson, ''The Pope Encyclopedia'', Crown Publishing, 1995, p. 229.Philippe Levillain, ''The Papacy: An Encyclopedia'', Routledge Publishers, 2002, p. 1082 At times the Magisterium disputes the contents of the ''Osservatore'', e.g. a 2008 article expressed the desire that the debate on
brain death Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of Electroencephalography, brain function, which may include cessation of involuntary activity (e.g., Control of ventilation#Control of respiratory rhythm, breathing) necessary to su ...
be reopened because of new developments in the medical world. An official spokesman said that the article presented a personal opinion of the author and "did not reflect a change in the Catholic Church's position".


Leadership

;Editors-in-chief * Nicola Zanchini and Giuseppe Bastia (1861–1866) * Augusto Baviera (1866–1884) * Cesare Crispolti (1884–1890) * Giovan Battista Casoni (1890–1900) * Giuseppe Angelini (1900–1919) * Giuseppe Dalla Torre di Sanguinetto (1920–1960) * Raimondo Manzini (1960–1978) * Valerio Volpini (1978–1984) * Mario Agnes (1984–2007) * Giovanni Maria Vian (2007–2018) * (2018–present)


See also

* Index of Vatican City-related articles


Notes


References


Further reading

* *


External links

*
''L'Osservatore della Domenica'' section


{{DEFAULTSORT:Osservatore Romano 1861 establishments in the Papal States Catholic newspapers published in Italy Dicastery for Communication Holy See Italian-language newspapers Newspapers published in Vatican City Newspapers established in 1861