Pope Celebrates 100 Years of Vatican Publishing House Stressing Importance of Books and Reading

Meeting with members of the Vatican Publishing House, which has served nine popes, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for their 100 years of service and reflected on the importance of emphasizes the importance of reading and books. The Vatican Publishing House became independent from the much older Vatican Printing Press, originally founded in 1587.

Books offer an opportunity to think said the pope. The physical nature of a book, especially in the digital age, reminds people of the importance of thought, reflection, and study.

“Reading,” the Pope said, “nourishes the mind” and “helps cultivate a conscious and well-formed critical sense, guarding against fundamentalism and ideological shortcuts.”

For this reason, Pope Leo encouraged everyone to read books “as an antidote to closed-mindedness, which is reflected in rigid attitudes and reductive visions of reality.”

Books are also an opportunity to encounter others. "When we hold a book in our hands," Pope Leo said, "we encounter its author in an ideal sense. At the same time, we also encounter those who have read it before us, those reading it now, and those who will read it in the future." He noted that writers and readers increasingly have opportunities to come together to speak and listen to one another.

Recalling Pope Francis’ frequent emphasis on a “culture of encounter,” Pope Leo suggested that books serve as bridges toward others, fostering dialogue, enriching understanding, and broadening perspectives.

Finally, Pope Leo underscored that, for Christians, books are also an opportunity to proclaim Christ. “We know well how reading the biography of a saint or a well-presented spiritual reflection can touch the heart,” he said. He also reflected on artistic depictions linking saints and sacred texts.

“The Virgin Mary," he pointed out, "is often depicted, in scenes of the Annunciation, intent on reading the Sacred Scriptures. Saint Anthony of Padua is portrayed holding the open Book of the Gospels, upon which the Child Jesus stands. Saint Augustine is often shown seated at a writing desk before a large book and, at times, holding a heart in his hand: truth and charity.”

Following up with these popular images, the pope said, “In the school of Mary and the Saints, let us nourish ourselves with the Word of God, so that it may shape our way of thinking and acting.”