2020s: Publishing in a Pandemic and Beyond

Publishing in a Pandemic and Beyond

By Fr. Byron Miller, President and Publisher, Liguori Publications

In 2020, COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions had an adverse effect on church parishes. Consequently, many parish-driven publishers resorted to publication suspensions, furloughs, and layoffs to help minimize the pandemic’s impact on their operations.

Liguori Publications took the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of its staff while functioning as a “Minimum Basic Operations” business during the lockdown. To meet demand, we also made more of our pastoral products available in digital and streaming formats to keep at-home parishioners connected, informed, and engaged.

Nevertheless, while Liguori Publications survived the pandemic, it affected us, just as it did other publishers and the Church. Marketplace demand for our products, church attendance, the number of men and women religious, and the number of Redemptorists who feel called to the publishing ministry all have continued the decline that was under way before the pandemic.
In years past, the “apostolate of the pen” founded by St. Alphonsus and which continued at our publishing house was viewed by most Redemptorists as an effective pulpit to reach a widespread congregation with our pastoral voice. In the tradition of St. Alphonsus Liguori’s own purpose for writing, our aim has been to present the faith in a practical style—with “no fancy Tuscan words,” as Alphonsus warned seminarians in their preaching, and in a manner that is received as Good News. For most of Liguori’s illustrious history, Redemptorists have taken pride in seeing their labors bear remarkably abundant fruit in furthering the spread of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Liguori’s renowned success was indispensably due to the Redemptorists’ overall investment in and commitment to this ministry. For decades, its labors were performed in part by some members of every Redemptorist community in the province to which it belonged. Moreover, other American provinces of Redemptorists promoted Liguorian and authored articles and books, while the Redemptorists of Canada, Australia, England, and elsewhere partnered with Liguori Publications in various ways. In other words, the phenomenal success of Liguori Publications depended heavily on the firm commitment and broad support of Redemptorists far and wide. Conversely, numerous Redemptorist communities, ministries, and projects relied heavily on Liguori’s prosperity.

This seventy-fifth-year milestone is an opportunity for Redemptorists to reinvest in this ministry with renewed collaboration, commitment, and creativity.

While the methods of delivery of Liguori’s products continue to change with the times, Liguori Publications remains an effective pulpit for the pastoral voice of Redemptorists to reach a widespread congregation in delivering the Good News.

Photo: The Redemptorists who moved to Missouri in 1947 are pictured shortly after arriving. The men, members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (CSsR), are identified from left. First row: Ernest Miller, George Corbett, Donald F. Miller (rector), Francis Darmady, Louis G. Miller. Second row: John Schaefer, Francis Bockwinkel, Thomas Tobin. Third row: Raymond McKee, Jerome Mess, Raymond Gaydos.