Chicago, IL—The first major work by Pope Francis, The Church of Mercy, has sold more than 50,000 copies in the first two weeks since the book’s release on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014, in both hardcover and paperback. In fact, sales for the paperback edition increased by about 35 percent in the second week of sales.
The majority of the books—75 percent — were sold through a combination of retail channels (indie bookstores, Ingram, Barnes & Noble – via Ingram, Amazon, and other wholesalers).
The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church is the first collection of major writings from Pope Francis’s first year. His homilies, speeches, and essays were organized by Giuliano Vigini, professor at The Catholic University of Milan, who has edited books by Pope Paul VI, Pope Benedict XVI, and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. The book is arranged thematically to provide a coherent narrative of his papacy thus far. It expresses the Pope’s clear and urgent desire for “a church that is poor, and for the poor.”
The book is published by Loyola Press, a small, nonprofit Catholic publisher based in Chicago. Founded in 1912, it is a nonprofit apostolate of the Chicago-Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus. For more information, visit PopeFrancis.LoyolaPress.com
