Address of Pope Francis to the United Bible Societies at the presentation of the Italian version of the Bible in contemporary language. 29th September, 2014 Dear Brothers in Christ, Thank you for coming to present to me the new Italian version of “The Bible; The Word of God: an inter-confessional translation in contemporary language”. It is the fruit of collaboration between the United Bible Societies, the Bible Society in Italy and the publishers LDC. I’ll give you something of my own experience. The translation of the Bible in contemporary language, prepared by Evangelicals and Catholics in Spanish for Argentina , has done a lot of good and is doing a lot of good. It is a good idea, because ordinary people can understand it. It is true and correct, but it is written in a language close to the people. In the evangelising work we do in the parishes in Buenos Aires, we always went to the Bible Society to buy this translation. They used to give us a nice discount! We gave the Bible to the people and they understood it. They understood! This a great effort and I am pleased that it is now available in Italian. In this way people can understand the stories and the sayings, because with a more literal translation they wouldn’t be able to understand. When you think how much disagreement there was about the scriptures, which influenced our divisions, especially in the West, you can see that, the preparation of an inter-confessional version is a particularly significant effort. This inter-church project has, over several decades, enabled us to undertake a shared journey. This helps us to place out trust in our companions on the road, overcoming suspicions and hesitations, because of this shared love flowing from the Word of God. Yours is the fruit of patient hard work. This work is attentive, fraternal, informed and above all, believing. If you don’t believe, you won’t understand. “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all” Isaiah 7.9. I applaud this translation which has the support of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) and the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy. It will encourage the Italian speaking Christians to meditate, to live, to witness to and to celebrate God’s message. I dearly wish that all Christians might grasp the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. (Phil 3.9), through careful reading of the Word of God. The sacred text is nourishment for the soul and a pure, everlasting spring for our spiritual lives. Therefore we have to make every effort to encourage believers to read the Word of God, for St Jerome says, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” Commentary on Isaiah: prologue :PL 24.17) I heartily thank you all. The path you have taken together has great value in helping you to reach this goal. I encourage you to carry on along this road, so that we can understand the living Word of God better and more deeply. You go with my blessing, which I give you from my heart. As brothers together, I want you to pray to our Father, asking for the same blessing for me. Let us say the Our Father together.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 11:10:28 +0000
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