The Vatican Publishing House (LEV) is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Founded as an autonomous body in 1926, but the successor to the Vatican Printing Office established by Sixtus V in 1587, it has served nine Popes and disseminated their writings and the Magisterium of the Church throughout the world. This anniversary invites us to look back on the past and, at the same time, to reflect on the future of the book and the presence of Catholic culture in contemporary discourse.
Leading this transition is Lorenzo Fazzini, editorial director of LEV since 2021, after having headed the Italian Missionary Publishing House. A journalist, translator, and writer, Fazzini has devoted many of his books to the intersection of faith, literature, and contemporary culture, as seen in the stories collected in New Christians in Europe even the dialogues between believers and nonbelievers. A journey that has also led him to explore the traces of the infinite in contemporary fiction.
He has also published books with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi. The experience he gained at the missionary publishing house also helps explain the attention Fazzini devotes to authors, experiences, and perspectives from the various Churches around the world—which he would like to see increasingly represented in the catalog of the Vatican Publishing House itself.
This year, the centennial has already given rise to a series of specific events. On May 7, Pope Leo XIV received the LEV’s executives and staff in the Consistory Hall, recalling the exhortation that Paul VI had addressed to his predecessors in 1976, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary, to “to look ahead, to refine ideas and plans for the future”.
A week later, the Bookstore organized four discussions at the Turin International Book Fair featuring church leaders and cultural figures, including a debate on fraternity between Algerian Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco and art historian Tomaso Montanari. On June 24, the Pope received a group of writers from around the world in audience, including Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse, Marilynne Robinson, Elizabeth Strout, and Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, along with authors associated with the Library itself, such as Adrien Candiard.
In this interview with Omnes, Fazzini explains that being “the Pope’s publishing house” means fulfilling a dual role: safeguarding papal texts from misrepresentation and exploitation, while at the same time promoting their widest possible dissemination through translations, publishing agreements, and international collaborations.
From this responsibility emerges a reflection on the identity of Catholic publishing, which is called to take its place in the cultural arena and to engage—beyond the exclusive circle of believers—with questions about life, death, evil, forgiveness, and hope.
The interview also addresses the changes in the publishing market and new opportunities for authors and readers to connect, emphasizing the need to move beyond self-referential language. Thus emerges the profile of a publishing house that seeks to bring together, at the heart of Christendom, the voices and testimonies of the various Churches around the world and, through books, to put them back into circulation within the universal Church.
The Vatican Publishing House is celebrating its 100th anniversary, but its roots go back to the Vatican Printing Office founded by Sixtus V in 1587. What is the common thread that links that history to today’s LEV?
—I believe there is a common thread that has to do with communicating the faith and the Gospel. The Church has always been at the forefront when it comes to proclaiming Christ. From St. Paul, who went to the Areopagus in Athens, to Guglielmo Marconi’s Vatican Radio, the Church has known that the task of communicating and proclaiming Christ must be carried out through all available means. Therefore, once the invention of the movable-type printing press took place, it wasn’t long before the Vatican Printing Office was established, from which LEV became independent in 1926, exactly one hundred years ago, to become an instrument of greater editorial reach at a time when rising literacy rates allowed for a wider dissemination of the book as an object.
Recently, Pope Leo XIV received the executives and staff of LEV, noting that, over the course of a hundred years, they have served nine Popes. What does it mean, specifically, to be “the Pope’s publishing house”?
—Specifically, this means that the publication of all the texts of all the popes is the responsibility of the publishing house, which in turn is part of the Dicastery for Communication. And so, on a daily basis, we respond to various requests to translate and publish the texts of the Pontiffs, as well as those of the offices of the Roman Curia. This involves, on the one hand, promoting their widest possible dissemination and, on the other, creatively overseeing the dissemination of papal texts to ensure it is carried out correctly and respectfully.
For example: the book Free Through Grace, by Robert F. Prevost—that is, the writings of Pope Leo when he was prior general of the Augustinians—will be published in the United States by one of the country's leading publishers, Penguin Random House. On the other hand, to mark the publication of Magnifica humanitas, Pope Leo's latest encyclical; we are receiving dozens and dozens of requests from all over the world for its translation and publication.
“The distinctive feature of Catholic publishing should be universality. In other words, it should speak to everyone.”.
Lorenzo FazziniEditor-in-Chief of the Vatican Publishing House
What is the greatest responsibility when it comes to safeguarding and disseminating the Pope’s writings and the Church’s Magisterium?
—As I was saying, it’s about exercising oversight in a creative and proactive way. In other words, safeguarding the papal texts and preventing any exploitation of them—including for economic gain—while at the same time ensuring that the Pope’s words, which serve to spread the Gospel, can reach as many people as possible.
I'll give a couple of examples: the Letter on the role of literature in education, by Pope Francis, is the first papal document to be published by a French publishing house as prominent as Gallimard has published over the course of more than a century. Furthermore, our participation in international book fairs such as those in Frankfurt, Warsaw, Turin, and elsewhere allows us to connect with and build relationships with new publishers from around the world, with whom we can establish ties and launch collaborations aimed at the ever-greater dissemination of LEV’s texts.
You've chosen to celebrate the centennial with a strong international focus. What do you want to tell the world about the LEV today?
—Far be it from us to be self-centered in our desire to tell the world about LEV; the aim of this international outreach is precisely to highlight the fact that the work of the Holy See’s publishing house is at the service of the entire Church, which by its very nature is universal—that is, Catholic. And that it speaks the languages of every people, pointing to the one language, which is that of the Gospel. LEV is merely an instrument of that great family of peoples that is the Church, which is at the service of the Gospel and its dissemination throughout the world. For this reason, being present in various international contexts means being available to ensure that the message of the Pope, the Roman Curia, and the authors we publish is accessible to anyone in the world.
You have argued on several occasions that the religious perspective should have a place in the contemporary public sphere without any reservations. What role can a Catholic publishing house play in today’s cultural debate?
—I’ll answer with a story from about twenty years ago. During a brief encounter—the only one I ever had—with Cesare De Michelis, founder of the publishing house Marsilio, I heard him say to me: “‘You know, I'm not Catholic or religious, but I think that every now and then we need to listen to the voice of those who are ’outside the world”—for example, bishops and priests—because their perspective on human affairs, coming from the outside, is certainly interesting.". Well, I would take this assertion even further by arguing that if we do not concern ourselves with the big questions (life, death, the meaning of existence, the possibility of hope in the face of evil in the world, forgiveness, reconciliation…), then what should we concern ourselves with?
Have fun until you die is the title of a famous essay by sociologist Neil Postman. In the society of the spectacle, it seems that the only imperative is to find new opportunities for entertainment, which, as Don Lorenzo Milani taught, means di-vertere, —that is, to stray from the ordinary path. A path that, on the other hand, is made up of effort, questions, meaning, connections, and doubts. In this regard, a Catholic publisher—just as any ordinary Catholic should—must contribute his voice, not out of a sense of superiority, but because he has received a Word of revelation from on High that, as it happens, has endured for two thousand years. So surely he has something to say today as well!
Who are the LEV's readers today, and how have they changed compared to the past? Do they still publish with believers in mind, or do they also consider other readers?
“Ah, if only I knew! The readers of our books are predominantly people interested in deepening their faith through reading.” But there’s also a growing number of “casual” readers who find in some of our essays useful insights into how a faith-based perspective can help them understand certain situations, events, or issues.
I am thinking, for example, of the story of Sister Azezet Kidane, a Comboni sister whose life would make for a great movie: the story of a life dedicated to the poorest in the name of the Gospel is of interest to many people, regardless of their religious affiliations. Or I’m thinking of a biography like that of Mercè Prats, dedicated to a genius of our time, Teilhard de Chardin: a book that has attracted a great deal of interest from the press, especially the non-Catholic press.
In a market where sales are declining and many religious bookstores are struggling, what is the significance of print books today?
—As Pope Leo said when he met with us, a book is an opportunity to come together. The number of occasions in which authors meet face-to-face with readers or potential readers is growing rapidly. Festivals, events, book presentations, public gatherings… today, the calendar has become an endless succession of such occasions. This is one of the new frontiers where a Catholic publisher must be present, so as not to remain trapped in a self-referential Catholic bubble—which would be the very death of Catholic outreach.”.
“I would like a publishing house capable of bringing new voices from all over the world to the public.”.
Lorenzo Fazzini Editor-in-Chief of the Vatican Publishing House
In light of this, is there still something unique about Catholic publishing that is worth preserving?
—Well, what makes it unique should be its universality. In other words, it should speak to everyone. On the other hand, it seems to me—echoing an absolutely politically incorrect observation by theologian Giuliano Zanchi—that when nonbelievers hear believers talk about “their things,” they hear a foreign language that means nothing to them. Whereas Jesus spoke of salt, yeast, lamps, treasures, fields, fathers, mothers… That should be the defining characteristic: not being narrow in scope. Nor self-referential. But it’s not easy. Nevertheless, it must be our daily commitment.
What is your relationship with other publishing houses? Are there any forms of collaboration, exchange, or mutual support?
—We have had several opportunities to collaborate with various publishers, both Catholic and secular, on co-publications of certain texts, including works by popes and other authors. I’m thinking of some books produced in collaboration with Solferino Editrice, the publisher of the Corriere della Sera in Italy, or with Edizioni e/o for the publication of a book by one of its star authors, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, or an upcoming young adult book by Adrien Candiard, who has been our author for years, which we will publish with the publishing house San Pablo, which has more experience than we do in this specific sector.
If you had to imagine what the LEV would be like in ten years, what would you like it to be like? And what feature should it never lose?
—Ten years in today’s fast-paced world is almost two generations! I would like to see a publishing house that is increasingly proactive in its choice of topics, themes, and authors—above all, one capable of bringing to light new voices from all over the world, voices capable of bringing their own sensibilities, experiences, and church life to the heart of the Church, in Rome, so that these can then be shared back out to every corner of the universal Church.
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