After 75 years of honorable service, the Pauline bookshop in Porta Venezia has definitively closed its doors. The meeting with the Bishop of Cremona, Monsignor Antonio Napolioni, was of no avail. The clerks then received the inexorable notice of closure and dismissal. Motivated by the high costs of managing the premises, staff and the dramatic drop in sales of printed paper, the news was nevertheless a bolt from the blue. A point of reference for the Cremonese clergy, the Porta Venezia shop distributed “La Domenica” mass leaflets to the parishes as well as missals and lectionaries for priests. It was December 15, 1949 when the Daughters of St. Paul opened their doors under the Galleria 25 Aprile, and then moved in 1958 to the premises now occupied by Ottica Monteverdi on the recommendation of Monsignor Boccazzi. Founded by Don Giacomo Alberone, they served the Gospel through the means of social communication. “Being in the world without being of the world” the founder used to say. Today it occupied the premises once the headquarters of Ag.2 of the Banca Popolare. The crisis in the sacred publishing sector is being felt not only in Cremona, in fact it seems that they are planning to close other sales outlets as well, especially those managed by lay people. From 2 April the Cremona store began to apply special discounts on all the goods on display until 4 May, the date on which the shutter was definitively lowered. Together with the Spotti bookshop, which closed its doors a little further on in April after 54 years of honorable service, the world of reading seems to be increasingly reducing its points of reference. Meanwhile, in these hours, rumors are growing that another bookstore in the center is scheduled to close. However, there is no confirmation yet.
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