'Laudate Deum', 4 October public reading in 12 bookshops

The bookshops involved in the public reading are therefore 12, here they are with their respective times of public reading (admission is free): Arcadia of Rovereto (Tn) at 7pm; Bonturi of San Bonifacio (Vr) at 8pm. 45, Gregoriana di Este (Pd) at 9pm, Il Gabbiano di Vimercate (Mb) at 9pm, Internazionale Francescana di Assisi (Pg) at 4pm, Itaca di Castel Bolognese (Ra) at 9pm, Mondadori di Rieti at 8pm, Paoline di Palermo at 8pm, San Paolo di Sassari at 7pm, San Paolo di Vicenza at 6pm, Spazio Cultura di Palermo at 6pm. Introducing the reading will be a video presentation of Laudate Deum by Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Holy See's Dicastery for Communication, who will briefly illustrate Francis' document.There are 12 Italian bookshops where Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum will be publicly read on Wednesday 4 October, which will be made available that day by Libreria Editrice Vaticana (Lev).

From Palermo to Vicenza, from Rieti to Assisi, from Sassari to Bassano del Grappa, to name but a few locations, this initiative, promoted by Lev, intends to encourage direct knowledge of this text, which Pope Francis is submitting, on the very day of the feast of St Francis of Assisi, to the attention of public opinion in order to tackle the issue of global warming together. "There is great expectation for this document by Pope Francis, which he has linked to Laudato si', the encyclical that has articulated in a comprehensive manner what integral ecology means," says Lorenzo Fazzini, Lev's publishing manager. "With this initiative, which exalts the role of bookshops as cultural garrisons and disseminators of thought, we want to allow the greatest number of people a direct and immediate approach to Laudate Deum, which will mark the public debate of the coming times. Ecology is the issue of today. Francis urges us to think and act for the common good'.

There is much enthusiasm among the bookshops taking part in this widespread event: "Our bookshop, for several years now, has been organising many meetings in which, through the reading of books, we share moments in which many issues are addressed," explains Nicola Macaione of the Spazio Cultura bookshop in Palermo and referent of the Italian Booksellers' Association (Ali) in Sicily. "The very theme dealt with in Pope Francis' Laudate Deum will be well received by our community of readers for careful reflection. For his part, Lucio Rossetto, head of the Libreria San Paolo in Vicenza, notes: 'We participate with joy in this initiative.  It is a small experience of sharing between bookshops, which for one evening become communities, gathered together to amplify Pope Francis' invitation to take care of our common home'. "The future is a responsibility of the present: closing one's eyes in front of the evidence does not solve the problem, but aggravates it," said Valerio Ortenzi, of Mondadori in Rieti, motivating his establishment's participation in the public reading of Laudate Deum. We need 'an ethics of the future', to quote the philosopher Hans Jonas, founded on a 'hope principle' and supported by a new, authentic, concrete and collective determination'. For his part, Giorgio Gizzi, manager of the Arcadia bookshop in Rovereto, points out: "We participate with conviction in this choral event because the theme is and must be close to our hearts, believers and non-believers alike; and ours will be a lay reading of this document, made by us booksellers by choice". "Here the theme is particularly felt because of the flood that has seriously damaged the territory," adds Itaca's founder, Eugenio Dal Pane. An opportunity to reflect on the responsibility we have to safeguard creation: this is the reason for our convinced adhesion to this moment of cultural nourishment'.

A variety of readers will take part in the various public readings: in the Itaca bookshop in Castel Bolognese the mayor Luca Della Godenza and the bishop of Imola Giovanni Mosciatti will take part; in Palermo, in Spazio Cultura, the entire reading group that refers to the bookshop together with the president of the 8th district of the municipality of Palermo, Marcello Longo, will represent the citizenship; in San Bonifacio the Bonturi will host the mayor Giampaolo Provoli, the writer Andrea Ciresola and the bookseller Paolo Ambrosini, national president of Ali, will be readers; Don Giampaolo Marta, vicar general of the diocese of Vicenza, and deputy mayor Isabella Sala will be two voices at the local San Paolo, while the bishop of Rieti Vito Piccinonna will read at the Mondadori in the Lazio city; in Assisi Fra Daniele Rossi, master of ceremonies at the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, will speak; in Sassari the reading will be by Andrea Sarigu, director of the local San Paolo. In Este, in the province of Padua, the readers will include mayor Matteo Pajola, parish priest Don Franco Rimano, writer Manuela Faccon (author of a novel for Feltrinelli), Silvia Ruzzon, president of SESA, an environmental services company, among others, while in the Pauline Church in Palermo, actress Pamela Villoresi will start the reading of the papal text.