It hardly seems real, but our “little newspaper” (as we affectionately call it) has already spanned half a century of history, reflecting the changing times and enriching itself with publications in other languages: German, Portuguese, Spanish and – recently – Vietnamese!
The “little newspaper” has over time been a community commitment, an exercise in communion, both in the editorial process and in the writing of articles, for which reflection on life and missionary experience was required more than the brilliance of the writing. Sulle strade dell’esodo in fact was born to announce the joy of the Gospel and of communion, to which were added contributions of other kinds, intended to raise awareness and make known the world of migration.[...]The exodus is therefore the key to interpreting our magazine, yesterday as today. The exodus in the intertwining of its multiple meanings: referring to migrations for the intensity of the movements, recalling the journey of the people of Israel towards the promised land, while in the missionary experience, the term is imbued with all the significance of the biblical event, of the journey in the desert, in which the experience of God's closeness, of His paternal and provident guidance, stands out. In all this, the reference to the exodus of Jesus' Easter remains the center, the heart of the secular Scalabrinian missionary spirituality: in Him crucified and risen, we contemplate the new life that can be born in the darkness of death and allow ourselves to be led – together with migrants – from dispersion to communion. Today as fifty years ago, when Sulle strade dell’esodo was born.
In the mid-seventies, just over a decade after its beginnings in Solothurn, our community had already experienced its first exoduses with missionary departures. To Grenoble, to Stuttgart, to Freiburg and to Limbiate. In Stuttgart [...] in October 1974, a Base Community was started in the industrial district of Bad Cannstatt, with a high density of foreigners, [...] the Gastarbeiter. The Base Community team, with the presence of Fr. Gabriele Bortolamai, Scalabrinian missionary, and some missionaries, aimed to realize an experience of Church that was not centered on pastoral structures, but moved towards meeting those who were distant. A Church that goes forth, as we would say today, but which at that time initially encountered not a few obstacles and resistance even within the ecclesial sphere.
The stories of Sulle strade dell’esodo from those years are testimony to a difficult experience but one in which joy and communion were not lacking. It is not possible to convey the richness of those pages in a few lines, so, to celebrate this jubilee, we will reprint, in the upcoming issues of 2025, some articles from those years which – in our opinion – retain all their freshness and relevance, starting with the editorial of the first issue dated Easter 1975, which explains the meaning of the new publication.Mariella Read the full article: Rivista SSE, 2025 n.2
