The magazine "Mensajero" was born 150 years ago. On Friday 18 November, the Loyola Communication Group celebrated its anniversary. Pope Francis received the latest issue of the magazine recently and congratulated the editors on this occasion.

Mensajero was founded in 1866 as a monthly newsletter of the Apostleship of Prayer on the initiative of the Catalan priest José Morgades. Today it is the oldest paper periodical  of Spain looking to the future thanks to the loyalty of thousands of subscribers. The first objective was translating into Spanish the French Jesuit newsletter. Now the magazine reflects reality on a key of faith, reflection and dialogue. It had the ability to adapt itself to the times in content and style.

Bilbao was the city that hosted the magazine in 1883, when Fr Morgades transferred it to the Jesuits. Here it was consolidated with the support of Jesuit institutions, especially Deusto University. Since the first director, the Jesuit Cecilio Gómez Rodeles until today, with Marta Barrio, the magazine has remained as an inspiring proposal of values. In this anniversary Mensajero publishes his issue 1,480, a figure that shows that it has been present every month despite the historical facts: the Civil War (1939) with the arrest of Fr Vilariño; the dissolution of the Society of Jesus in 1932 and the floods of Bilbao (1983).