As our constitutions remind us, we Redemptorists are missionaries of the Word and, nourished by it, we are called to bring it to the poorest and most needy. The written word therefore becomes a privileged means of giving reasons for our hope (1 Pet 3:15) and of announcing the good news of salvation.
With a cultural and evangelizing role, the Redemptorists continue with this mission through two consolidated media: La Editorial Perpetuo Socorro and the ICONO magazine, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
The origins of the event were the arrival of the French-Swiss Redemptorists who took the necessary steps for the birth of the Publishing House and the magazine. The first issue of the magazine appeared in January 1899 together with a Devotional that would later be called Perpetual Help. The works of St. Alphonsus, publications by other Redemptorist authors, illustrations, religious objects, calendars… were also published.
But what is the point of celebrating this anniversary today?
If I tell you that ICONO magazine is celebrating its 125th anniversary, you will surely conclude by saying: “Well, very well, may it continue to be better.” If, on the other hand, we consider the depth of what humanity has experienced throughout all of them, things change. We look at a historical document that helps us understand how missionary and Marian service has been present from the 19th century to the present day. And that is the celebration. That the Redemptorists have understood in history, and continue to understand in the present, that the meaning of their lives is to bear witness, accompany and form society in the hope of Perpetual Help.
A historical witness
Many things have happened in these 125 years. Some are repeated, others appear as novelties. From all of them the publication has made and makes memories, and, above all, it draws wisdom to face the future. Alongside the Redemptorists and lay people who have worked on the publication, there have always been families and evangelization centres that have been nourished by what has been published and provoked reflections that opened up the mission. Because from its origins, the magazine has had and has a missionary vocation; it has a street identity; it has the conviction of the people. It has witnessed how Europe entered into war, becoming a world war, on two occasions; it has been published and suffered during the Gray years of the war in Spain; only in 1937 was its printing impossible. The magazine has breathed with the Second Vatican Council and its before; and with its consequences, in the aftermath, where it unequivocally placed its reflection. It has been and is close to the moral reflection that is an accent of the Redemptorist mission of all times. It has been deliberately an instrument of openness and participation; of joint reflection and shared mission. It is, from its origins, a family magazine. We have lived intensely, with our readers, the Pandemic, the constant wars that shame the world in Ukraine and Gaza; the boats of sub-Saharan Africans seeking a future in Europe. We have lived and continue to live the longing for a tomorrow of peace and solidarity for humanity.
The magazine has known 11 Popes (Leo XIII, Pius X; Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis), and it has been a faithful spokesperson for all of them, bringing them closer and seeking their understanding among the people of God.
On such a big anniversary date, there are countless points that need to be understood. One of them is that changes are always slow, and it takes time to become aware that they are happening. Another is that a good work is achieved thanks to initiatives of communion and complementarity. If ICONO is 125 years old, thanks to countless anonymous efforts that always knew how to seek the common good. And another is that the possibility that having a great history gives us is not to be overwhelmed by small issues. The magazine has a vision, a mission and a view that integrates and welcomes; it takes care of synergy and complementarity and, above all, it wants to be a common house where no one is left out and seeks in each issue to contribute by reminding society and the Church that we are the “common boat” where the weakest must always find reasons to continue hoping. ICONO has a tomorrow, because it knows that its reason for being is the vigilant care of hope, and this is an urgent matter for all times.
Future prospects
Obviously, like all written press, we are in a stage of great transformations that come, above all, from the digital world. From there we want to continue working so that the magazine continues to be a tool of evangelization and for this reason a digital version is being developed. Of course, its publication in paper must continue, but it must also be open to new means of dissemination: social networks and their adaptation to new languages are unavoidable because, what is important, is that the message reaches and can be received.
An anniversary like this is a reason for great gratitude to all those who have made this publication possible for more than a century, but it is also an incentive and a stimulant to look to the future with hope and not to remain in nostalgia for what was, but in the miracle of the Word that becomes alive, new and effective every day and every moment. A big thank you to all.
Fr. Francisco Javier Caballero, CSsR.
