Ruadhán Jones
Publishers and authors have described the announcement that Veritas, the publishing arm of the Irish bishops’ conference, is to wind down this year with the loss of 80 jobs as a “huge loss”.
A “sustained business downturn” forced the hand of the bishops’ conference, and the board made the “deeply regrettable” decision to wind down its operations as a restructuring process wouldn’t “mitigate the challenges or sufficiently improve the commercial prospects of the business”, Mr Queenan, Chairman of the Board said in a statement.
“Veritas is a part of the furniture in religious publications, it’s really iconic, I think it’s a shame… an enormous loss” author and social justice activist Fr Peter McVerry said responding to the news.
The closure is a “sad day” for the Church in Ireland and religious publishing, according to the publisher of Columba Books (also publisher of this paper) Garry O’Sullivan.
“Religious publishing was stronger when Veritas were involved and their offerings complemented the books that we publish and the newspapers we print,” he said.
“The Church in Ireland is at a critical phase, we’re transitioning slowly to a more lay-led Church, we need to cherish our current priests but we also need to replace them for a sustainable future Church and we need laity to step into new ministries in parishes in every diocese.
“This calls for a huge shift and it all involves communications and training and education. That’s what Veritas was set up to do so there’s a large hole opening up when they are gone.”
He added: “Columba books is willing to assist the management of Veritas at this time and if parts of the business can be saved, we’re open to seeing what we can do.
“I think a smaller Veritas might be salvageable, but I’m not privy to the internal accounts and workings of the business and I don’t want to give false hope but if some shops and jobs can be saved, we should all look at that and see what can be done working together for the good of the broader church in Ireland.”
The director of Kildare-based publisher St Pauls, Fr Shinto Thomas Veleeparambil of the Society of St Paul, told this paper the news is “really shocking”.
“Veritas had established a very good relationship with the Catholic population across Ireland and they have been very good in supplying books, statues and any of those religious goods, and now all of a sudden they are going to shut down – it is really shocking,” he said.
“When we look from the customer’s point of view it is a saddening thing. I am also saddened to hear that it is going to close down.”
The Irish bishops said all those affected by the closure are in their thoughts and prayers.
“We understand that Veritas has made this very difficult decision following a number of years of challenging trading conditions, but today’s announcement brings especially sad news for Veritas employees as well as the many customers and friends of Veritas throughout the country and beyond,” the bishops’ said in a statement.