Cardinal Brislin Blesses New Premises of Catholic Bookshop in Cape Town

Cardinal Stephen Brislin blessed the new premises of the Catholic Bookshop in Cape Town in the presence of invited guests.

The bookshop, a long-standing institution in the archdiocese, has moved from its old location at The Grimley building to nearby Bouquet Street, the small road behind St Mary’s Cathedral which houses the archdiocesan chancery and the cathedral presbytery.

Cardinal Brislin said he was delighted that he could preside at the blessing before his move to Johannesburg because he regards the Catholic Bookshop as an important part of the archdiocese’s life. He praised the current manager, Tim Smith, and his staff and the board for having worked hard to keep the bookshop going, and thanked past staff and directors present for their years of devoted service.

The cardinal encouraged the faithful to make use of the rich resources offered by the bookshop.

The Catholic Bookshop offers a range of books for all literary needs as well as cards, statues, rosaries, prayer aids, sacramentals, liturgical items and so on. As is tradition, it has produced the annual liturgical calendar, which is now available. The Southern Cross is also on sale in the shop.

The Catholic Bookshop also has an online store at www.catholicbookshop.co.za

The bookshop was founded and owned for a long time by The Southern Cross. It started as a mail-order and publishing exercise for the newspaper in 1933. In June 1945 a room in The Southern Cross’ editorial office in Hope Street, opposite the cathedral, was set aside to serve as a bookshop.

In 1966 the bookshop moved into the Old Mutual Building in Darling Street, and in 1970 moved into the chancery.

On September 1, 1982, the Schoenstatt movement assumed full control of the bookshop. In 1994, the bookshop relocated to The Grimley, where it remained for 30 years.