Sabiduría Editorial: Bridging the Language Gap in Orthodox Missionary Work

In a fresh effort to expand the reach of the Orthodox Church in Spanish-speaking communities, Sabiduría Editorial has launched a translation initiative to make key Orthodox texts accessible in Spanish. The project is a labor of love for Samuel Velez-Ramirez and a small team of like-minded Orthodox Christians who recognized a major shortcoming in available spiritual resources. Now, they’re announcing the project to the world—and seeking investors. 

“There is a lack of Spanish content that is Orthodox,” Velez-Ramirez explained in an interview with UOJ-America. "We do have some Orthodox publications in Spanish, but they are mostly from Roman Catholic publishing companies, and the translations are sometimes questionable." The result is a significant gap in spiritual formation tools for Spanish speakers within the Orthodox Church, particularly for older generations and converts who may not be fluent in English. 

For Velez-Ramirez, this need is deeply personal. He recounted gifting his father a Spanish-language book—albeit one translated by a non-Orthodox publisher—which helped him understand the faith and take steps toward embracing it. “That helped him coming into the faith because he understood a lot of things through that book in his language,” he shared. “That’s basically what we want to be able to achieve.” 

Sabiduría Editorial’s initial efforts include the acquisition and translation of three well-known Orthodox works: Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, The Religion of the Apostles by Fr. Stephen De Young, and Surprised by Christ by Fr. James Bernstein. These titles were selected for their catechetical and missionary value. “That’s a good start to our Kickstarter campaign,” said Velez-Ramirez. 

“We’re offering various options through our campaign for those who donate, but these options fall into two categories. If you’re an English-speaker looking for a good charitable cause, you can donate to those contributions go towards providing translations of these books to Spanish-speaking Orthodox missions all over the world. If you’re a Spanish-speaker, your donation is essentially preordering these books for you, your friends, your parish, and more.”

The response from Hispanic Orthodox communities has been enthusiastic. One parish in Tennessee, where part of the congregation and surrounding neighborhood is Hispanic, expressed great interest. “They were very excited with this project,” said Velez-Ramirez. “They would like to do missions to their Hispanic friends or family but are unable to because they lack Spanish resources.” 

While the project currently focuses on translating from English, Sabiduría Editorial has greater ambitions. “In the future, we would love to translate works directly from the languages they were written in—like Greek or Russian—so you don’t lose as much in translation,” Velez-Ramirez noted. 

Looking ahead, the team also hopes to publish a Spanish-language Orthodox prayer book. However, they’re approaching it with great care. “We want it to be beautiful and of high quality,” said Velez-Ramirez. “I think it’s very irresponsible to just translate a prayer book and publish it on our own without the blessing and participation of our bishops and seminaries or monastics.”

Sabiduria Editorial aims to carry out their work in close cooperation and with the blessing of their bishops and other ecclesiastical authorities. This emphasis on spiritual accountability underscores the seriousness and integrity of their mission. 

Despite the obvious need, Sabiduría Editorial is one of the few groups actively addressing this issue. “I’ve often wondered why the seminaries haven’t made a greater effort at Spanish translations. Perhaps the need just didn’t seem great enough; but if there is nothing in the language, hispanics can’t know the faith to indicate a need,” says Samuel. 

For those looking to support this much-needed initiative, Sabiduría Editorial launched its Kickstarter campaign on June 1, 2025. Information and donation options can be found at sabiduria.org. 

As Velez-Ramirez puts it, “Maybe this is a start. It will take time… but through the years, people have talked about the need. Now, we’re actually doing something about it.”

Read also