Benedict’s Bookstore

Posted by Tom McFeely

Thursday, November 20, 2008 8:11 AM

Cardinal Bertone blesses the store. (CNS)

Aside from being a prolific author himself, Pope Benedict XVI loves books.

After he was elected Pope in 2005, renovations were undertaken to the papal residence to accommodate his personal library of 20,000 books.

So it’s especially fitting that the Vatican opened a new bookstore this week dedicated to the Holy Father.

Along with books, the new store offers both a stamp and a medal collection, including a new stamp printed for the occasion of the opening, Zenit reported.

It also contains a branch of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, allowing pilgrims seeking images from papal audiences or other events to obtain them there.

The store is located in the Pius XII Plaza between the end of Via della Conciliazione and St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, presided at the store’s dedication on Tuesday.

“In constructing cathedrals and basilicas, our fathers wanted to transmit the faith they had received,” Cardinal Bertone said. “Today, along with places of worship, it is good that places to spread the truth are also developed, spaces of seeking and going deeper into the Christian message incarnated in society so that it is spread and penetrates the world.”

— Tom McFeely

Filed under benedict xvi, vatican bookstore