In Europe it’s a success” “

France and Italy: a new thirst for spirituality. “Two sister cultures with common Christian and Latin roots in constant dialectical relation between integration and confrontation”: that’s how the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Paul Poupard, reads the almost parallel development of religious publishing in France and Italy; a link that will lead to Italy being the guest of honour at the International Salon of the Christian Book scheduled to be held in Paris in March 2002. The Cardinal spoke a few days ago in Rome on the inauguration of the first Biennale of the Religious Book promoted by the Cultural Centre of Saint-Louis de France, by the French bookshop in Rome “La Procure”, and by the agency responsible for the promotion of the French book “Présence du livre francais”, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Culture, the cultural service of the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Sant’Anselmo Association for the promotion of theological and religious culture. On show at the Biennale: the new publications of some fifteen of the most prestigious French publishers of religious books. Common to both countries is a slight increase in turnover in religious publishing over the last few years. “In a general context of crisis in the sector – commented Card. Poupard – the revival of religious publishing testifies to a new thirst for spirituality to which we need to respond, both in spiritual and cultural terms”. France. Christianity in dialogue with philosophy, human sciences and literature, and information about other religions: that in essence is the demand of French readers, according to the publisher Jean-Pierre Rosa (Bayard). “An interest to which superficial responses are often given; our task is to educate people through high-level publications”, remarked another French publisher, Nicolas-Jean Sed (Cerf). “Not by imposing on others in dogmatic terms, but by starting out from the great questions of man”, added Marc Leboucher (Ddb), revealing that apart from a renewed interest in the Bible, there is a growing attention to Islam, which has always been alive in France thanks to the strong Moslem presence in the country, and to interreligious dialogue. Italy. In the years following Vatican Council II “religious publishing experienced a significant impulse also through numerous translations of French and German texts. But then a growing involvement of lay publishers in the field was also registered in the 1980s and 1990s. The task now is to pass from a situation of competition to one of collaboration”, emphasized Elio Guerriero (San Paolo). Bible studies, patristics, analytical series, special imprints for children; and yet, according to Donato Falmi (Città nuova), big Italian publishers are still hostile to Catholic publishing “which, despite its high cultural level, is heavily penalized in terms of advertising and distribution and unjustly labelled as ‘devotional'”. It is especially the small publishers that suffer from this hostility, although, he added, “we are all convinced that we need to devote greater care to the exterior image of our products”. Common prospects. But, continued Guerriero, we also need to carry forward with conviction the already launched partnerships with some European publishers in the sector and promote more of them. We need to keep our antennae attuned both to people’s expectations and to market demand”. Rosa agreed; in his view, there is an urgent need to intercept promptly “the great interest in religion shown by readers, and the great questions posed to every person, now more insistently than ever”. “It is we who need, without fear – he stressed –, to respond to the demand, before someone else does it for us”. G.P.T.