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
encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...
s. 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
The Dicastery for Communication ( it, Dicastero per la Comunicazione) is a division ( dicastery) of the Roman Curia with authority over all communication offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Its various offices can be accessed th ...
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
''Pastor bonus'' (Latin: "The Good Shepherd") is an apostolic constitution promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the central government of the Catholic Church.
The docume ...
'' 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
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
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 sovereig ...
. The policy was announced on 31 May 2005. ''
La Stampa
''La Stampa'' (meaning ''The Press'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin, Italy. It is distributed in Italy and other European nations. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy.
History and profile
The paper was fou ...
'' 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
This is an incomplete list of papal bulls, listed by the year in which each was issued.
The decrees of some papal bulls were often tied to the circumstances of time and place, and may have been adjusted, attenuated, or abrogated by subsequent pop ...
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Pius XI
This article contains a list of encyclicals of Pope Pius XI. Pius XI issued 31 papal encyclicals during his reign as pope and was considering one at his death.
{, class="wikitable"
! No. !! Title (Latin, except where is noted) !! Title ( Englis ...
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Pius XII
This is a list of encyclicals of Pope Pius XII. Pius XII promulgated 41 papal encyclicals, during his reign as pope for over 19 years, from his election of March 2, 1939, until his death on October 9, 1958. The 41 encyclicals of Pius XII exceed ...
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (1881–1963; reigned 1958–1963) issued eight papal encyclicals during his five-year reign as pope of the Catholic Church. An encyclical is a letter issued by the pope that is usually addressed to Catholic bishops or laity in ...
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Aug ...
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope John Paul II
The Pope John Paul II bibliography contains a list of works by Pope John Paul II, and works about his life and theology. Pope John Paul II reigned as pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City for 26 years and six months (October 19 ...
*
List of Encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI
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