Pope Leo XIV will receive on June 24 at the Vatican a score of some of the most recognized writers of contemporary literature on the occasion of the centenary of the Vatican Publishing House (LEV), the official publishing house of the Holy See.
The audience will feature the participation of twenty writers from different countries, cultural traditions, and religious sensibilities. Among the guests stands out the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Jon Fosse, considered one of the most important voices in contemporary European literature.
Alongside him will be the American novelists Marilynne Robinson and Elizabeth Strout, the French writer Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, the Romanian Mircea Cărtărescu, Jonathan Safran Foer, Colum McCann, Sorj Chalandon, Vittorio Lingiardi, Daniele Mencarelli, Enrico Brizzi, and the Spanish writer Julia Navarro, one of the most widely read authors in the Spanish language in recent decades.
The meeting will also include the presence of several authors closely linked to the Vatican Publishing House, among them the French Dominican Adrien Candiard, as well as Eraldo Affinati and Paolo Malaguti, whose works have been published by the publishing house of the Holy See.
A key institution for the dissemination of papal teaching
The meeting will serve to commemorate the one hundred years of the Vatican Publishing House, founded in 1926 during the pontificate of Pius XI with the mission of officially publishing and disseminating the documents of the Holy See.
Over the course of a century, LEV has become the Vatican’s main publishing instrument, responsible for the publication of encyclicals, apostolic exhortations, papal speeches, documents of the Roman dicasteries, conciliar acts, and numerous works of a theological, historical, and spiritual nature.
The publishing house has also been responsible for the publication of the writings of the last pontiffs, from Pius XII to Leo XIV, including Saint John Paul II, whose extensive magisterium decisively contributed to the international projection of the institution.
Currently, its publications are translated into numerous languages and constitute a regular reference for Catholic universities, seminaries, and research centers around the world.
The first major cultural gesture of the pontificate
The selection of writers from very diverse religious, cultural, and intellectual traditions has particularly caught the attention of Vatican observers.
Beyond the publishing commemoration, the audience seems to convey a message about the place that Leo XIV wishes to give to culture in his pontificate. Since his election, the Pope has repeatedly insisted on the need to build bridges with the contemporary world without renouncing Christian identity.
Literature thus appears as a privileged space for encounter between believers and non-believers, as well as for reflection on the great human questions that continue to challenge today’s society.
The intellectual tradition of the Church
The initiative is also part of a long tradition of dialogue between the Church and the world of letters. From the medieval monasteries that preserved the European cultural heritage to the universities born under ecclesial impetus, the transmission of knowledge has been an essential part of the Church’s mission.
In this context, the celebration of the centenary of LEV is not limited to commemorating a publishing institution, but rather affirms the value of the written word as an instrument for the search for truth, the transmission of faith, and the construction of culture.