The 5th Conference on Religious Books was organized by the Commission of Religious Book Publishers (CELR), which brings together a total of almost 30 religious publishers with different themes and literary genres, from theology and philosophy to history and fiction.
The conference was inaugurated by Bishop Francisco César García Magán, Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, who highlighted the challenge facing religious book publishers today. He also affirmed that publishing is a medium to long term investment, a concept that today clashes with the "society of immediacy" and that publishers, especially those of religious content, "maintain this commitment with sacrifice".
On the other hand, he affirmed that the Church has been committed to the culture of the times and to evangelization since its beginnings. The evangelizing message cannot be fossilized, but "it is for everyone and for all times". García Magán also pointed out, referring to the evangelical message, that the important thing is the water, not the container in which it is served. Because there must be freedom of worship, but also "freedom of proclamation", fulfilling the command of Jesus Christ: "Go and make disciples of all nations".
This is the third year that the Religious Book Day has been held at LIBEROn this occasion, the topics of current concern in this field were discussed under the theme "Great challenges and concerns of religious books".
The conference was coordinated by José Manuel Bargueño, commercial director of Ediciones Palabra and coordinator of the Religious Book Publishers Commission, and included three round tables.
The first one, entitled "The religious book and the media. The battle of visibility", was moderated by the director of Literocio and Getafe Negro, Maica Rivera, and included the participation of Fernando Bonete, head of the book section of El Debate, author, university professor and cultural influencer, and José Ramón Navarro-Pareja, editor of the ABC newspaper and responsible for religious information in this newspaper.
At this table, the relationship between religious book publishers and the media was discussed, and the question was raised as to whether the press gives visibility to this type of book.
This was followed by the round table "Piracy and copyright. Evangelization should not be an excuse", moderated by the deputy director of Society and Culture of Europa Press, María Pin. The speakers were Lucía Pastor, director of the Anti-Piracy Department of CEDRO, Ana Mª Cabanella, director of the Argentine publishing house Claridad and vice-president of CADRA, and the writer José María Rodríguez Olaizola.
Finally, the round table "Communities that believe in you" was held, with the participation of Íñigo Ybarra, head of marketing of the Loyola Communication Group, and Juan Carlos Manso, director of SJDigital of the Loyola Communication Group.
