This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the management and staff of the Vatican Publishing House (Libreria Editrice Vaticana).

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present:

Greeting of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you.

Good morning and welcome! And thank you for your patience!

Today we are gathered to mark what might be described as a “family” anniversary: the centenary of our publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana. It was in fact in 1926 that it became independent from the long-established Vatican Printing House, founded way back in 1587. Over these hundred years, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana has served nine Popes, spreading their Magisterium as a contribution to the dissemination of the Gospel throughout the world.

I would like to share with you three brief reflections on this anniversary, which I know you will also be celebrating at a number of international events dedicated to books.

The book is an opportunity to think. In the digital age, the physicality of the book reminds us of the role of thought, reflection and study. Reading nourishes the mind; it helps to foster a conscious and well-formed critical sense, guarding us against fundamentalism and ideological shortcuts. For this reason, I urge everyone to read books, as an antidote to closed-mindedness, which is reflected in rigid attitudes and reductive views of reality.

Then, the book is an opportunity for encounter. When we hold a book in our hands, we ideally encounter its author. But at the same time, we meet those who have read it before us, or who are reading it now or will read it in the future. And increasingly, there are occasions when writers and readers come together to talk and listen to one another. Pope Francis has taught us to practise the culture of encounter: a book is a bridge to others, a source of dialogue that enriches us, a stimulus to expand our own perspective.

Finally, for us Christians, the book is an opportunity to proclaim Christ. We know well how reading a saint’s biography or a well-written spiritual reflection can touch the heart. The Virgin Mary is often depicted, in the Annunciation, intent on reading the Holy Scriptures. Saint Anthony of Padua holds the open Book of the Gospels, upon which the Infant Jesus stands. We often see Saint Augustine seated at a desk before a large book and, at times, holding a heart in his hand: truth and charity. At 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.

Dear friends, I echo the words that Saint Paul VI addressed to your colleagues of that time when, in 1976, he met them on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana: he urged them to “look ahead, to refine ideas and plans for the future” (Address on the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Publishing House, 10 July 1976). I thank you for your work, which I hope you will carry out with dedication and passion. And I cordially bless each of you and your loved ones. Thank you.