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For over twenty-five years the San Francisco-based
publisher has produced hundreds of works of theology, spirituality, philosophy,
history, apologetics, fictions, catechesis, and biography. Here's the
story of one of the world's largest Catholic publishers...
The story of Ignatius Press is one that began over twenty-five years ago,
and a story that has not ended yet.
Although
Father Fessio is the backbone of Ignatius Press, there are others who
joined him, laymen who share the same passion and vision. The cliché
saying, "There is no I in team" might well be applied
to founding group of men and women who first signed on to a project that,
to many outsiders, must have appeared doomed from the start.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Father Fessio spent his formative
years as a Jesuit training under European theologians, including Joseph
Ratzinger, Hans Urs Von Balthasar, and Henri de Lubac. These eminent teachers
and thinkers were also prolific authors, providing a wealth of theological
and philosophical reading material. Upon returning to the United States
he used some of his books, written in French and German, as the basis
for discussion among friends, where the priest would translate a paragraph,
read it, and then lead a meditation based upon the writings. It wasnt
long before someone suggested that he publish these works in English,
making them available to a far wider audience.
Then came the birth of the St. Ignatius Institute at the University of
San Francisco. A Great Books style program, it was designed to emulate
the classical education that used to be provided by the Jesuit order.
Naturally, since it was located at a Jesuit university, many at the school
itself did not warmly welcome it. But within a very short time, the excellence
of the program was evident in its graduates. Also, in putting together
the Institute, the need for solid theological works in English became
even more apparent. The ball began to roll.
Guadalupe Associates, which would become the parent company of Ignatius
Press, was founded as a non-profit in 1977, providing finances (in a small
way) that could be used for the production and printing of the books that
were envisioned. Production editor Carolyn Lemon was brought on board and
talented
young translator Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis began working on a free lance basis. Over the
next year of 1978 the first two books took shape, with the small staff working long hours in
a stuffy room at the Institute offices. Finally, 1980 saw the publication of
Woman In the Church, by Louis Bouyer, and
Heart of the World by Hans Urs Von Balthasar. Twenty-four years later,
these two books remain in print, but have been joined by hundreds of other
titles; many now considered to be the authoritative text on their respective
subjects.
Today, Ignatius Press is considered one of the top religious publishers
in the world. New books cover not just theological matters, but world
issues and culture. Branching out into video production as well with the
Footprints of God series and the movie John of the Cross, Ignatius
has been at the forefront of the changes in society and the Church. The
Press also publishes Catholic
World Report and Homiletic
and Pastoral Review, periodicals that support and inform the faithful
on news, theology and pastoral matters.
Visit www.ignatius.com | Meet the Ignatius Press staff | Contact Ignatius Press
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Father Aidan Nichols, O.P., a Dominican priest, is currently the John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer, University of Oxford;
has served as the Robert Randall Distinguished Professor in Christian Culture, Providence College; and is a Fellow of
Greyfriars, Oxford. He has also served as the Prior of the Dominicans at St. Michael's Priory, Cambridge. Father
Nichols is the author of numerous books including Looking at the Liturgy,
Holy Eucharist, Hopkins: Theologian's Poet,
and The Thought of Benedict XVI. His study of the Old Testament,
Lovely Like Jerusalem: The Fulfillment of the Old Testament in
Christ and the Church, was recently published by Ignatius Press. Read an excerpt.
Also, read an interview with Father Nichols about the book, the Old Testament, and related topics.
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Lovely Like Jerusalem: The Fulfillment of the
Old Testament in Christ and the Church
by Aidan Nichols, O.P.
The highly regarded spiritual writer and theologian Fr. Aidan Nichols, O.P. presents an overview of the Old Testament by
showing what it is and its relationship to the New Testament. He explains that it is essential for one to be familiar
with the Old Testament in order to understand properly, and in a deeper way, the richness and message of the New. In particular,
Fr. Nichols shows how important it is to grasp that connection in order to understand better and to believe in the message
and the person of Christ. Nichols maintains that we are ill-equipped to read and understand the great theologians, saints,
and Scripture commentators of the Christian era without a deep familiarity with the Old Testament. Even understanding and
appreciating the art of the Church remains limited if the Old Testament is a closed book for us. Nichols made use of studies by
biblical experts from various Christian denominations--notably Evangelicals and Anglicans--in
writing this widely appealing work. He also drew on the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to help illuminate the beauty of
the relationship between the two Testaments.
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"The trouble with men whose minds have been swept thoroughly clean of the dogmatic formulations of the ancient faith
is that they inhabit an unreal world, one whose typography has been rendered more or less flat as a map. In other
words, when men refused to accept as an article of the faith something seen to be dependent for its validity upon antique
cosmology--to wit, that three-tiered universe science was widely thought to have smashed to pieces--the word became
an even more dangerous place."
- From
The Suffering of Love: Christ's Descent into the Hell of Human Hopelessness by Regis Martin
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