The Vatican Publishing House ( it, Libreria Editrice Vaticana; la, Officina libraria editoria Vaticana; LEV) is a
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
established by the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
in 1926. It is responsible for publishing official documents of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, including
Papal bulls and
encyclicals. On 27 June 2015,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
decreed that the Vatican Publishing House would eventually be incorporated into a newly established
Secretariat for Communications in the
Roman Curia.
History
In 1926, the library was separated from the printing and transformed into autonomous body that was entrusted with the sale of books that were being made to print by the Holy See.
The
Apostolic constitution ''
Pastor bonus'' of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
(28 June 1988) classified the LEV as an institution affiliated with the Holy See.
Description
It has its own constitution and its own rules. The statutes of LEV, Article 2, states: "The Libreria Editrice Vaticana has the fundamental aim of publishing the documents of the
Supreme Pontiff and the Holy See."
The company owns the copyright to all the writings of the Pope, but did not start enforcing the copyright until the accession of
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
. The policy was announced on 31 May 2005. ''
La Stampa'' was the first to pay royalties to the Vatican publisher, and the Union of Catholic Booksellers and Publishers protested the Vatican policy, which applied to texts no older than fifty years. The LEV's policy has been summarized as:
See also
*
List of papal bulls
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Pius XI
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Pius XII
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope John XXIII
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Paul VI
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope John Paul II
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI
The Pope Benedict XVI bibliography contains a list of works by Pope Benedict XVI.
Books
The following is a list of books written by Pope Benedict XVI arranged chronologically by English first edition. The original German first edition publicatio ...
References
External links
Vatican Publishing House Website
{{Authority control
State publishers
Catholic Church organizations
Publishing companies established in 1926
Mass media in Vatican City
Italian companies established in 1926
Dicastery for Communication