Vatican eBooks

The Vatican is entering the eBook world. They have even created an App in Apple’s App Store. The CEO of Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Father Giuseppe Costa,(the Publishing Company of the Vatican) said: “Every new communication technology is important to the Church’s missionary activity. Aptara made our first foray into eBooks smooth and successful. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the quality of the series, in fact the eBook version gives new life to the texts’ magnificent imagery.”

The eBooks are “an illustrated series of Pope Benedict’s weekly addresses”. The books were created by Aptara, a digital publishing company. These books are just a beginning to the Vatican’s foray in the eBook world. From Aptara’s press release: “The adoption of eBooks by an institution founded before Gutenberg represents a significant coming of age for publishing,” said Dev Ganesan, President and CEO of Aptara. “The Vatican has a centuries old tradition of printing. So to be the first organization to help the Church embrace digital publishing is quite an honor.”

There are thirteen books in this first series and each one will feature a different figure from church history.  Currently, they are available only in the Italy Apple Store. No dates have been given for a U.S. release.