[1] On 27 June 2015, Pope Francis decreed that the Vatican Publishing House would eventually be incorporated into a newly established Secretariat for Communications in the Roman Curia.
The Apostolic constitution Pastor bonus of Pope John Paul II (28 June 1988) classified the LEV as an institution affiliated with the Holy See.
The statutes of LEV, Article 2, states: "The Libreria Editrice Vaticana has the fundamental aim of publishing the documents of the Supreme Pontiff and the Holy See."
[5] La Stampa was the first to pay royalties to the Vatican publisher, and the Union of Catholic Booksellers and Publishers protested the Vatican policy, which applied to texts no older than fifty years.
[6] The LEV's policy has been summarized as:[7] [N]ews organizations can quote from the pope's speeches, encyclicals and other writings without charge.