Saints alive! Irish people are turning back to the Bible for guidance if the sales of a certain book are anything to go by.

Church leaders in Dublin revealed they have been forced to order a further 100,000 copies of St Luke's gospel after an initial print run of the same size ran out. This occurred less than two weeks after the launch of a new drive aimed at encouraging people to read the Bible.

A spokeswoman for the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin confirmed that, by the middle of last week, it was aware of orders for 130,000 copies of the specially commissioned version of the gospel, with most of the initial print run already distributed.

Among the most popular sources of requests for the booklet are chaplaincies in the Defence Forces for soldiers serving abroad, and from people providing spiritual guidance to prisoners in places such as Mountjoy.

"100,000 copies were supposed to last until November. But due to demand, it has now been decided to order another 100,000," she said. "They are also going to follow up with specially commissioned e-zines for Ash Wednesday as resources to help people read the gospel."

The decision to print the initial 100,000 copies of St Luke's gospel forms part of a joint ecumenical initiative between the Catholic and Church of Ireland archbishops of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin and John Neill.

This is the Liturgical year of St Luke, meaning it is the gospel being read in churches throughout the year.

As part of the year of evangelisation, both Dublin dioceses have collaborated on a number of evangelical projects, including a joint presence at last year's ploughing championships in Athy.

The spokeswoman said she had been "very surprised and delighted, obviously" at the level of interest in the new version of the gospel, which had been deliberately presented "in a very accessible way".

"It looks like an easy enough read, so it is accessible. I think people are open to the gospel whatever difficulties the church is experiencing," she said.

Speaking at the launch of the new initiative in Trinity College last month, Archbishop Martin said the year of evangelisation "is about reaching out and allowing the Word of God touch the hearts of the men and women of our times and especially young people."