Roman Catholic Church and Bible Society unite around the Word of God

n Cardinal Agré: ‘we want to help promote the Parole de Vie Bible as much as possible’

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire — The Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire (BSCI) enjoys a close working relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, which is committed to promoting and sharing the Word of God.

Having participated in the translation of the recently published Parole de Vie, the Bible in Basic French, the Roman Catholic Church is now committed to helping the Bible Society to promote it.

Communicate

“We are supportive of the UBS, which is making the Word of God known worldwide,” said Cardinal Bernard Agré, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abidjan. “In the past many priests and parishes were not informed about the work of the Bible Society and it is our job today to put this right and communicate the good work going on in translation into local languages.

“We want to help as much as possible in promoting the Parole de Vie Bible, which we helped translate. The Word of God unites – it is doctrine which divides.”

Monsignor Paul Dacoury-Tabley, Roman Catholic Bishop of Grand-Bassam, who has worked with the Bible Society for many years, recalled the partnership between the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible Society on the ecumenical translation of the Bible (Traduction Oecuménique de la Bible).

Argued

“I went to Switzerland where I argued the case for the TOB,” he said. “Many people did not realise just what a miracle it was to have the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches collaborating in the translation of the Bible.”

Monsignor Dacoury-Tabley was also instrumental in encouraging Lydie Rivière, translator, and Dr Joachim Somé, UBS Translation Consultant, to continue translating the Bible into Basic French in the early 1990s. He was the first to provide the Catholic Imprimatur to the Basic French New Testament, which was published in 1993.

“One of the best things we as a church can do is to work with the Bible, either in distribution or in translation,” he said. “For me, it is the TOB which brings us closer together. God will use his Word in his Church to prepare us for whatever lies ahead.

“I encourage the Bible Society and the UBS to continue their work of making the Bible available in all languages possible and in bringing down the price of Bibles. Everyone should be able to have their own Bible,” he added. (WR 363/18 - 10.01) [PHOTOS]