International Symposium for Redemptorist Publishing Houses

A symposium of some of the Redemptorist publishing houses was held in Hawkstone Hall, England and hosted by the Province of London in conjunction with Majella Publications of Australia.
Fr. Ronnie McAinsh originally approached Redemptorist Publications conscious of the large number of lay people who are being appointed to leadership positions in these publication houses. Often they are under great pressure to produce financial targets but are frequently not given any substantial input or training in the Redemptorist charism.
Fr, General was present for the first few days and also Fr. Enrique Lopez who was able to be with us for the whole symposium. Participants came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, the two units in Slovakia, India, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Brazil.
Father General gave input on the charism and the apostolate of the pen, and this was followed by a variety of topics including presentations on IT and modern digital means of communications, Sharing among the various publishing houses, how to make effective contracts and how to share strategic plans were also discussed. An App entitled “Bread for Today” was officially launched and there was a wide discussion on the parallel roles of the publishing houses in the digital world, both now and in the time ahead.
All the participants felt that it was very worthwhile experience, and ongoing meetings have been planned and will be communicated to the publishing houses.

Fr. Ronald McAinsh