What should a Catholic publisher publish?

This is not as trite a question as it sounds. Nor as easy. There are numerous Catholic publishers around the world. The works that they produce represent as many different ecclesiologies as can be found in the Church. And they are legion, arising from traditions and charisms rooted in the religious congregations or academic communities that most often founded them.

If Novalis were based in the United States, our question would have a different ring to it. We would simply stick to one particular area in publishing: parish resources, university-level research and texts, devotional items, self-help. We'd be traditional or reform-minded, liturgically focused or social justice oriented. We would be a niche publisher in a publishing niche. But in Canada, the question takes on another hue. Here, at least in English Canada, we are a rare voice in the publishing world. Novalis is the largest Catholic publisher in the country and one with little company. It comes with certain freedoms, but also heavy responsibilities.

I came to Novalis some months ago, in part, because I believe Canada — and not just Canadian Catholics — needs a Catholic publishing house. It needs an avenue for Catholic intellectual and spiritual input into the salient questions of our day. The Church in Canada, for its part, needs somewhere it can go to find authentic Canadian catechetical and spiritual resources. The identification of this need was what prodded the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate at Saint Paul University back in the 1930s to start what would eventually become Novalis. It is what helped the Assumptionist Fathers of Quebec define their own mission in social communications to focus on publishing both for the Church and a larger public through Bayard Canada. These two different groups formed a fruitful partnership in 2001 in Novalis.

A year ago Oct. 1, that responsibility — on the invitation of Saint Paul University — fell into the hands of Bayard. And it was what has brought us to this point in our history as a Canadian religious publisher. Moreover, there is a need for a publishing house in close relationship with its readers. Hence this Facebook group. Hence the untold number of meetings I've already had in the last eight months with leaders in Canadian Catholic education, health care, liturgy, catechetics, lay movements and the Church proper. We are starting with the assumption that we can learn from Catholics in this country about how best a Catholic publishing house can serve them. And then we match the talent and desire that we know exists in the Canadian Catholic population with the tasks at hand. Note, too, that when I speak of publishing, I have a rather broad definition in mind. It isn't just about paper and ink in thick volumes. It is also about electronic technology, different genres of writing, visual and oral communications. It is about iPhones, Amazon, Google, e-zines, web sites and social networking, multimedia and — yes, of course — good old-fashioned books and magazines. This is all a very roundabout invitation into a dialogue. After all, what's a blog for if it can't be used to allow us to talk to each other?

So I'm throwing this question out to you: What should a Catholic publisher publish?

Joe Sinasac
Publishing Director
Novalis