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Amid outrage that the German Catholic church’s publishing business, Weltbild, was distributing risqué titles, the Catholic bishops have agreed to sell the business “without delay.”
The bishops decided on the move because Weltbild’s book range includes steamy pulp novels with titles like “Boarding School for Sluts,” “The Lawyer’s Whore,” “The new Kama Sutra” and “Tempted to Sin.”
In a statement announcing the sale, the bishops said it had been impossible to “adequately restrict the internet-supported dissemination and production of media that contradicted the ideals of the shareholders.”
Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meissner said there was no alternative to selling the publishing group.
“We can’t make money all week long with something we condemn from the pulpit on Sunday,” he said.
With annual sales of 1.6 billion euros (2.1 billion dollars) and a workforce of 6,400, Weltbild is a major company that publishes books and operates book clubs and a national bookshop chain.
Weltbild has denied that it lists “pornographic” literature, saying that the term is clearly defined. It said its erotic literature accounted for just 0.017 percent of its revenue, but church leaders fear a tarnished reputation.
Sources
- The Local
- Deutsche Welle
- Image: Reuters
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News category: World.
