Our regular newsletter takes a brief summer break and will return in the fall with a new monthly format. Meanwhile, the archive on our website continues its journey backward through time, reaching articles that predate Ombre e Luci itself.
It was 1974 when the first issue of Insieme was printed—a simple mimeographed bulletin. This "little magazine," which would eventually become Ombre e Luci, grew from a single conviction: "our children are God's chosen ones… if we remain TOGETHER we will know how to show it."
With help from Stefano Guarino—who still keeps the original copies that he himself designed and printed—we are now rebuilding the digital archive of Insieme, which from 1974 to 1981 gathered in its few pages a firm resolve: never to leave the most vulnerable families alone.
We've chosen this brief summer window—four installments—to introduce it to you; to pause and reflect on the past before we set out again, once more, together.
How It Began — Maria Teresa Mazzarotto tells us of an afternoon at the home of Mariangela Bertolini, where the future editor of Ombre e Luci, recently returned from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, was wondering "how to keep it alive, how to stay in touch with friends who had experienced it with her or followed it from afar." That conversation gave birth to the idea of a "newspaper sheet"—a mimeographed publication that would take its first steps at the Nazareth Institute in Rome with the help of Mother Annarella Pantanella and many parents and friends.
Summer Classics from Years Past
Let's rediscover some of the best vacation stories we've shared on Ombre e Luci over the years. We start with some sound advice from our founder Mariangela Bertolini on how to have a good vacation: a moment that is "essential, after a year of work and commitment." A moment that, once fears are set aside, can turn out to be revolutionary—as Rita Ozzimo witnessed thirty years ago, when her son went to summer camp for the first time. So... shall we go?
Watched for Us by Claudio Cinus
Claudio Cinus, our film critic at O&L whom readers know well by now, has seen several films for us that explore fragility and disability, screened at various festivals—from Bologna's Biografilm to the Far East Festival in Udine. From the latter comes the world premiere of I WeirDO, a film by Liao Ming-yi shot entirely on an iPhone. By telling the story of two young Taiwanese people with obsessive-compulsive disorder falling in love, the film tackles themes that are "far from trivial or obvious"—though not always exhaustively.
Benedetta's Blog
The Penalty Kicker of the Tyrrhenian Sea
At the beach I do lots of sports. Tons of them. All of them. First I go swimming in the sea. I like swimming with the inflatable mattress and also with a float. On the mattress I stretch out so I can sunbathe but I'm careful not to fall. Read more...
The Survey — We keep asking, dear readers, but it matters to us: thanking all those who have already responded to the survey, we invite anyone who hasn't yet to fill it out. It only takes two minutes!
A Journey Through Art
The New Issue of Ombre e Luci
The new issue of Ombre e Luci invites us on a long journey through art—both created and contemplated. It rests on the conviction that art, made together, nurtures what Cristina Tersigni calls in her editorial "truly free and inclusive communities." The opening interview (by Giulia Galeotti) features Sante Bandirali, co-founder of Uovonero, a publishing house born ten years ago from a determination to honor every child's right "to a true and beautiful book." We also find the testimony of Stefano Nasuti, who will serve as a trustee under the new guardianship law; Serena Sillitto exploring what the founding texts of Fede e Luce really say; and more—short films, book reviews, regular columns, and much more.