Angelus Press: Celebrating a New Chapter with New Headquarters & Bookstore

The building, which is part of the ongoing downtown revival in Saint Marys, serves as a “one-stop shop” for the Press with all its offices now falling under one roof. This location hosts the Press’s staff offices, an audio and visual studio, and a full-service religious goods and books store. Brent Klaske, the Press’s Director of Operations, is proud of this new milestone and believes that the Angelus Press Building expresses the growing Catholic ethos of Saint Marys. Finally, the Angelus Press Building is conveniently located two blocks from the Press’s warehouse and distribution center, which opened in June 2020.  

As a practical matter, these new facilities aid Angelus Press’s growth and sustainability by centralizing staff, streamlining production, and reducing the difficulties associated with operating multiple facilities a hundred miles apart. Being so close allows for improved communications, and greater cooperation and coordination between employees. While improvements will continue to be made to the working spaces to keep up with best practices in publishing and distribution, the Press is already experiencing the benefits of its new space as the holidays approach. The new distribution center has allowed Angelus Press to plan, organize and continually improve their processes and workflows, making the fulfillment of online and traditional orders more efficient. Angelus Press regularly ships orders as fast or faster than Amazon. 

Immaculata Bookstore

For those visiting the Angelus Press store, The Immaculata Bookstore, their new location boasts one of the largest inventories of traditional Catholic books and media in the United States. With Saint Marys serving as the spiritual center of the Society of Saint Pius X’s (SSPX) American mission, thousands of Catholics visit every year—a number that will undoubtedly grow following the completion of the new Immaculata Church building. Now Angelus Press, and its bookstore, will be able to accommodate visitors while remaining completely accessible to the local Saint Marys community. 

According to Klaske, the new building has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both staff and visitors. And while Angelus Press’s home may be new, its traditional Catholic values remain the same. “The Angelus Press Building and bookstore provide a welcoming environment for people to explore the depths of the Catholic Faith. It is open to anyone seeking the truth.”

The Unseen Work of Angelus Press

Beyond the borders of Kansas, the resources available at Angelus Press help the U.S. District reach out to the English-speaking world by producing a plethora of digital content, including online video series and podcasts. More than just a book and magazine publisher, Angelus Press is the communications arm of the SSPX’s U.S. District. 

As announced in the June 1978 issue of The Angelus magazine, “Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, has appointed Angelus Press as official editor and publisher of books, pamphlets, and all other official publications of the Society emanating from the International Headquarters of the Society in Switzerland.” The announcement continues: “We are deeply touched and grateful that the Archbishop has such confidence in Angelus Press and its staff to entrust us with this singular privilege. We will work diligently to merit this trust.”

“While the Archbishop may not have foreseen the changing publication landscape and the shift toward online media, I think he would be pleased with all the Press has accomplished and continues to accomplish,” observes James Vogel, the U.S. District’s Communications Director. “The Angelus Press Building helps us to address a worldwide Anglophone audience who want to learn more about traditional Catholicism generally and the SSPX specifically.”

Vogel is also quick to note Angelus Press’s other works that are often invisible to most people. One example is the “priests’ program” that offers guidance and instruction to non-SSPX clergy who reach out with questions ranging from liturgical celebrations to doctrine. Angelus Press also supplies books to prisoners seeking spiritual sustenance during their incarceration. These and other Press programs are not funded by conventional means but rely on the goodwill of donors. However, as Vogel further points out, Angelus Press was never about making money, but rather fulfilling its apostolate to spread the Catholic Faith.

 

The new Angelus Press building assists in facilitating all of this and more. In these troubled and often confusing times, Angelus Press seeks to be a source of intellectual, moral, and spiritual stability. By God’s grace, the Press will continue to grow in the coming decades, perhaps calling for additional “hubs” of traditional Catholic publishing and bookselling across the country. In the meantime, the Press is better poised than ever before to assist all Catholics on their earthly pilgrimage.