Avvenire

"Avvenire" is a daily newspaper affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1968 in Milan through the merger of two Catholic magazines: "L'avvenire d'Italia" of Bologna and "l'Italia" of Milan.

History

"Avvenire" was strongly supported by Pope Paul VI who, taking into account the changing times, wanted a common cultural medium for Italian Catholics. Throughout its history, "Avvenire" has maintained this characteristic, despite pressures to accommodate itself to the needs of a society in evolution. For example, in the middle of the 1990s, under the editorship of Dino Boffo, it increased its coverage of civil society and strengthened the section devoted to cultural debates.

New initiatives were also launched. In February 1996, a biweekly insert under the name of "Popotus" was published devoted exclusively to youth, for whom three other inserts were also included: "Luoghi dell'Infinito", "Noi Genitori e Figli", "Non Profit". In 1998, an Internet edition began to be published.

The newspaper belongs to the Nuova editoriale italiana, and is affiliated with Italian Episcopal Conference.

On 7 March 2002, "Avvenire" experienced a major change with the format and content. From that time, a number of new inserts have been included: : "è lavoro" (about professions), "è vita" (about Bioethics), and "Agorà domenica" (about culture).

These innovations have led to a steady increase in its circulation, significant given the general decline in sales of other Italian papers. The average number of copies sold each day in February 2005 was 103,000.