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| Loyola: Books for everyday Catholics By Patty Gayes special contributor One of the positive effects of the turbulence in our world and in our Catholic Church is that “the sleeping giant is being awakened,” said Jesuit Father George Lane who directs the operations of Loyola Press, one of Chicago’s premier Catholic (and other) publishing houses. “The sleeping giant, of course, is the laity–the people that are our church.” The hunger of this sleeping giant is well documented, according to Lane, noting “a real growing interest in books on spirituality. Our industry is definitely on a roll.” Heidi Toboni, business development director at Loyola Press, acknowledges that the publishing industry has a challenge in nourishing this giant. “We need to publish books that meet people where they are in their faith, instead of telling them where they should be. That’s really our call–to publish books for everyday lay Catholics who want to practice their faith.” Trends in types of spirituality books are aligned with trends in the demographics of the Catholic population, Toboni points out. For example, young adults (20s and 30s) are a large part of the Catholic Church today. The books that interest them appear to be those filling a gap in their Catholic education. As the emphasis shifted away from catechism teaching after Vatican II, children were educated more in concepts than strictly memorization of facts. “They’ve got the heart of the faith, but not the catechism,” Toboni said. The books they seek fill in the gaps of their knowledge about Church traditions and beliefs. One of Loyola’s current books is “The New Faithful,” by Colleen Carroll, which looks at how young adults are passionately embracing their faith, particularly with a growing interest in religious orthodoxy. Baby boomers, on the other hand, raised in the more stringent days of pre-Vatican II, often rebelled against their church. Now they are turning back and are seeking information about the spirituality of their religion. Loyola Press’ Seeker Series of books speaks to these needs, Lane said. Books are “a wonderfully apt medium to the interior spiritual life,” Toboni said. As people become interested in their spiritual growth, books are uniquely helpful, she explained, since they allow a person privacy and the ability to go at their own pace. For Loyola Press, publication of books dedicated simply to the joy of spiritual reading began in 1997 with Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s “The Gift of Peace.” “That book ran on the New York Times’ bestseller list for 17 weeks,” Toboni said. “So many people said that this book was the changing point in their lives. We realized what an impact it had.” Since then, “trade” books–books of general interest for reading–have become a much more major part of the Loyola Press mix, in addition to its traditional concentrations on textbooks, other academic publications, and professional books. RELATED STORIES: ACTA: Spirituality without footnotes LTP: Promoting a richer prayer life Front Page | Digest | Cardinal | Interview |
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