Pope Leo’s address to a group of writers,
on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the “libreria editrice vaticana”
(The Vatican Publishing House)
Room adjacent to the Audience Hall – Wednesday, 24 June 2026
The Vatican Publishing House is a publisher established by the Holy See in 1926.
It is responsible for publishing official documents of the Roman Catholic Church,
including Papal bulls and encyclicals.
It is incorporated into a newly established Secretariat for Communications in the Roman Curia.
Those in attendance included Nobel Prize laureate Jon Fosse, a Catholic convert and one of Norway’s most decorated writers; Pulitzer Prize winners Elizabeth Strout and Marilynne Robinson; and Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated.
Also present were Jonathan Safran Foer, and Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin and winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.
Pope Leo’s address
Dear Writers,
I am pleased to welcome you, gathered from many parts of the world in Rome, to celebrate the centennial of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Founded in 1926, the Holy See’s publishing house has been a vital part of the Catholic Church for over a century.
This is an opportune moment to reflect on the importance of books and of writing — a form of human expression in which you, with your variety of styles and languages, serve as teachers and as role models.
1. Writing is an act of truth and Revelation.
It reveals itself in our inner dialogue with God and in our open and respectful dialogue with others.
Furthermore, “truth is not a territory to be defended, but a good to be shared.”
We are never masters of the truth.
In fact, it is the truth that “conquers” us.
This is why I hope you will inspire others to seek the truth because you are drawn to it yourselves.
2. Furthermore, writing is an act of humanity.
As the ancient author Terence observed in The Self-Tormentor (I, 1, 25), “I am a human being, and I do not regard anything human as alien to me.”
Literature encompasses the full spectrum of human experience.
In fact, Pope Francis highlighted its formative value: “Reading a literary text places us in the position of ‘seeing through the eyes of others’ thus broadening our perspective and humanity.
[C. S. Lewis’s Book “Seeing With Other Eyes” has essays on how to read and how good reading can shape us, rearrange us, inform us, and, if we allow it, transform us],
We develop imaginative empathy, which enables us to identify with how others see, experience, and respond to reality.
Without this empathy, there can be no solidarity, sharing, compassion, or mercy.” (Letter on the Role of Literature in Formation, 34).
When you write stories and develop your characters, you identify with them; you grasp their points of view, their emotions, their feelings, their attitudes.
You allow your readers to experience this great training ground of humanity because, in a sense, they “live” many lives in addition to their own.
This helps us to discover different perspectives, to avoid treating our own views as absolute and to piece together, the outline of that truth which always transcends us, like a mosaic.
3. Finally, writing concerns God.
While it may seem like a bold claim, several theologians have reflected on and written about the harmony between the art of writing and the revelation of the biblical God.
The very structure of Revelation gives us the authority to do so.
As Cardinal Radcliffe wrote, “For Christians, nothing human is alien to Christ. Every attempt to grapple with the fundamental questions of our lives — how to love, how to be just, how to be free, how to face suffering and death — helps us to understand Christ, the one who is most human of all.”
(T. Radcliffe, Alive in God. A Christian Imagination, London 2019, p. 15).
When we delve into the depths of our humanity, we are close to God because he reveals himself in our human stories.
The God of the Bible is revealed through liberation from slavery, the birth of a son when all hope was lost, and merciful and faithful love.
God speaks through events, encounters, faces, and stories.
“God works in our lives through what we do and who we are and through the many people we meet”
(Free Under Grace, Vatican City 2026, 83).
That is why I repeat to you, who are writers, what Saint Paul VI said to all artists: “We need you”
(Homily, Mass with Artists, 7 May 1964).
We need your imagination, narrative creativity, and lively thinking.
These are what we need to create spaces of freedom and authenticity, where divine grace can offer the promise of consolation and peace.
Thank you for sowing seeds of reconciliation, encounter, and friendship.
For this reason, I encourage you in your work and gladly invoke the Lord’s blessing upon you and your loved ones.
Thank you.
