Marking Vatican publishing anniversary, Pope urges everyone to read books
May 07, 2026
Pope Leo XIV praised the reading and distribution of books as he marked the centenary of Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), the Vatican publishing house.
“The book is an opportunity to think,” Pope Leo said today in Consistory Hall during an audience with LEV’s management and staff. “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,” the Pope continued. “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.”
Pope Leo also praised the book as “an opportunity for encounter” and “an opportunity to proclaim Christ.”
“When we hold a book in our hands, we ideally encounter its author,” the Pope said. “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 ... A book is a bridge to others, a source of dialogue that enriches us, a stimulus to expand our own perspective.”
The Pontiff added:
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.
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