VATICAN CITY (AP) — Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano says it is starting a new distribution deal in the United States, in the hope of broadening its English-language readership base and getting editions to subscribers faster.

Starting Wednesday, the newspaper says its weekly English edition will be printed and mailed by the Huntington, Indiana-based Catholic publishing house Our Sunday Visitor. For the past year, copies were mailed to subscribers from Rome, incurring delays, after the contract with its previous U.S.-based distributor expired.

The Vatican is hoping the deal will give it access to Our Sunday Visitor's distribution network in Catholic bookstores and dioceses to boost its U.S. circulation figures of a few thousand.

It's the second major initiative for the 150-year-old papal paper in as many months: In May L'Osservatore Romano announced a monthly insert on women's issues.