One of Germany's largest publishing companies, Weltbild, has over 2,500 erotic novels in its online catalogue. Its owned 100 percent by the German Catholic Church.

Worldcrunch, summarizing an article by German newspaper Die Welt, says that for over 10 years Catholics have complained about the company, which has been owned by the church for over 30 years. The high point of this opposition came in 2008, when a 70-page report on the book sales was sent to bishops.

Die Welt reports that the situation came to light after a report this month mentioned the erotica distributed by Weltbild. The publication also said that over half of the bishops who were sent the report in 2008 failed to acknowledge receipt of the document.

Weltbild has an annual turnover of €1.7 billion ($2.4 billion) and has a 20 percent market share when it comes to selling books. That makes it the second largest online retailer of books behind Amazon.

The church also owns a 50 percent stake in publishing company Droemer Knaur, which also produces pornographic books.

You can read Die Welt's full article (in German) on the issue here>