The 31st Catholic Publishers Fair, which opened yesterday in the Kubicki Arcades of the Royal Castle of Warsaw, will be going on until Sunday, 19th April. The books arrived in Warsaw will cover many different themes: on one hand, as it usually happens with this Fair, the theme of the pastoral year of Poland that, in this 2026, is “Missionary disciples”, so as to “support the community of readers that, by being here, co-create this Festival”; another theme is the year of St Francis of Assisi on the 800th anniversary of his death. Then, there is a focus on the 70th anniversary of the Vows of Jasna Góra and the Year of the Blessed Mother Elisabetta Róża Czacka. About 80 exhibitors will be in Warsaw, bringing thousands of books for a three-day fair that will also include a line-up of plays, shows and 150 events. “Catholic books, and all books, are a fool-proof indicator of the level of civilisation”, the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi, remarked during the opening ceremony. “This Fair helps us listen to God”, commented Father Roman Szpakowski, President of the Association of Catholic Publishers, that organises the Fair. The spokesperson of the Episcopal Conference, the Jesuit Father Leszek Gęsiak, wishes these days may be “a celebration of values”, because the message these books contain “is spreading the Gospel through the written word”. This Fair – as explained in a note on the Episcopal Conference’s website – is one of the oldest and most uninterrupted Fairs in Poland. Last year, it was visited by over 40,000 people.