The Catholic Church's $2.4 Billion Bookstore Peddles Loads Of Smut

Vögelbar (Fuckable)

German bookseller, Weltbild, sells quite a bit of smut. If you're looking for a copy of “Anwaltshure” (Lawyer’s Whore), “Vögelbar” (Fuckable), “Schlampen-Internat” (Sluts’ Boarding School), or “Sag Luder Zu Mir!” (Call Me Slut!), Weltbild has you covered.

While it's not unusual for a bookseller to sell erotica, there's something a little different about Weltbild. The company employs 6,400 people, has an annual turnover of €1.7 billion ($2.4 billion), and is second only to Amazon in German book sales.

It's also 100% owned by the Catholic Church.

This month, Buchreport, a German industry newsletter, reported that the church-owned bookseller lists over 2,500 erotic books for sale.

The church also owns Blue Panther Books, and a 50% share of Droemer Knaur, both of which publish pornographic materials. So, not only does the Catholic Church sell porn, they produce it.

Papal Porn

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.

Whoops.

Full report, in German, here.