Ignatius Press was founded in 1978 by Father Joseph Fessio SJ, a Jesuit priest and former pupil of Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press, named for Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, is a Catholic publishing house headquartered in San Francisco, California. In an interview in 1998, Father Fessio said, "our objective is to support the teachings of the Church" .

It is one of the Catholic institutions which have arisen in the United States in the last 35 years in response to a perceived drift in parts of the Church from the traditional tenets of the Catholic faith. In an interview published by Catholic World News, Father Fessio stated that one of the main objectives of Ignatius Press was to print English translations of contemporary European theologians.

The Press issues periodicals such as Catholic World Report and Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

Ignatius Press has a full list of publications with a number of new offerings each spring and fall. Among the reprints it has issued are works by G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. In addition to publishing the works of Pope John Paul II, Ignatius Press has published newer works by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Peter Kreeft, Scott Hahn, Joseph Pearce, Christopher Derrick, and Michael D. O'Brien.