Pauline Books and Media

For over 75 years Pauline Books and Media has been a vital part of the mission of the Daughters of St. Paul in North America.

The Daughters of St. Paul and the employees of Pauline Books & Media are called to offer a fruitful announcement of the Word of salvation in the midst of the challenges in the present changing social-cultural and ecclesial context so that every man and woman of good will can encounter the Word that saves: Christ the Master, Way, Truth and Life.

The Pauline Mission in the US is comprised of Pauline Books and Media Publishing House, music recording studio, radio studios, art studios, photo studios, 15 Pauline Books and MediaCenters in the US and English-Speaking Canada, the Center for Media Studies in Culver City, CA, and JClub.

The Pauline mission is a new form of evangelization in the Church: Blessed James Alberione, founder of the Daughters of St. Paul, saw it as “written preaching” alongside the oral preaching that characterizes the ministry of the priest. The quality of the sisters’ faith, a gift received from the infinite goodness of God, is expressed in Pauline productions and mission.

Pauline Books and Media seeks to serve individuals with their personal and spiritual needs as well as create a new imprint on society: “forming a new mentality in society, giving it a new direction…transforming and sanctifying laws, governments, entertainment, education…every aspect of individual and social life” (Blessed James Alberione).

What We're About

Giving the Word that Saves in Faithful Communion with the Magisterium…

The First Letter of Peter sums up the entire content of Christian proclamation with the word “Gospel.” The term Gospel indicates the paschal mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection for our salvation. The Gospel is Christ!

Saint Paul encloses in this name the whole content of Christian proclamation: “We preach a crucified Christ” (1 Cor 1: 23). “It is not ourselves that we are proclaiming, but Christ Jesus as the Lord” (2 Cor 4:5).

We seek to help people hear and respond to the Word of God with fidelity in communion with the Church’s teaching, life, and holiness.

The Word, the voice of Christ, calls all of us to responsibility, openness, integrity, and renewal in communion with the Church. Our fidelity to the Church is dynamic, constantly adapting to that increasingly broader and deeper understanding of the message which takes place in the Church with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

…And Fidelity to the Human Person

Pauline Books and Media considers an integral part of the message all realities concerning the human person in her or his personal and communitarian existence. This fidelity to the human person is at the heart of the Pauline mission.

In everything we produce and do this fidelity is created by four foundational premises:

1) A theological anthropology rooted in Theology of the Body

Pauline spirituality and mission has its foundation and goal in the call to live the life of Christ with the passion with which  St. Paul lived and loved him: “For me to live is Christ!” (Galatians 2:20). This understanding of the human person, the development of faith, and the meaning of life calls for content that is balanced and rooted in the full humanization of the person. Rooting ourselves in the theological anthropology of John Paul’s II’s Theology of the Body, we foster the full growth and respect of the person in all dimensions: biological, sexual, psychological, spiritual, and communal/relational.

Pauline Books and Media acknowledges with the Church that the “split between the Gospel and culture is without doubt the drama of our time,” (EN 18) and it therefore promotes the dialogue between faith and culture, and in a particular way the culture of communication. 

The Pauline Mission is both thoroughly engaged in culture and at the same time wholly rooted in the Gospel. It is characterized by respect, tolerance and clarity, seeking to transform and renew culture in the light of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is Beauty, Love and Truth to all things and to all people. The proclamation of the Gospel needs also to upset people’s “criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation” (EN 4).

3) A prophetic call to unity

The Pauline mission considers the polarization in the religious community to be deeply contrary to our faith. The content of what we carry transcends categories of liberal or conservative, left or right, progressive or traditional.  The prophetic task is to find ways forward beyond division.

4) A clear identity in the midst of fragmentation

People today live in a world of profound social, psychological, moral and religious change. Today’s culture fosters a fragmented identity in individuals yearning to live meaningfully and longing for salvation.  Governments, educational institutions and media outlets provide conflicting messages and differing values.  Many individuals are ill equipped to sort through these conflicting messages.  They lack an informed critical sense which would assist them in wading through a veritable flood of ideas and values.

Pauline Books and Media seeks to offer a clear identity that rises above fragmentation and that is capable of pointing individuals and society in meaningful directions. We have a commitment to promote the values of the Gospel, creating a culture of hope and fostering greater solidarity with all human situations. Thus, Pauline Books and Media is charged with promoting dialogue on timely and urgent themes such as justice, peace, ecology, bioethics, globalization, feminism, fostering a critical sense, and assessing the role of media in society.