Colombian Bible Society in fruitful partnership with Roman Catholics

By Larry Jerden, freelance photojournalist

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The fact that Colombia is historically a Roman Catholic country means that many of the 1.2 million Scriptures printed every year by the Colombian Bible Society are being used by Catholics. Bible Society Promoter Manuel Badillo says that Catholics increasingly see the Bible Society as a partner.

“Work with Catholics is very good in Colombia,” he explains. “We have a good relationship with both the National Bishops’ Conference and the local parishes. When you have a good relationship, they have confidence in your products and materials, and that opens the doors to things like workshops.

“For example I was asked to lead a workshop at the National Catholic Conference. I have a good relationship with the bishop who is in charge of evangelisation in the south, and that helps us reach out to all the population.”

Also helping in the work with Catholics is Ricardo Grzona, the UBS consultant in charge of interconfessional relations in the Americas.
“He also has a good relationship with the Catholic authorities,” Mr Badillo notes, “so the doors with the Catholic Church are really open.”

For the Bible Society, open doors mean increased opportunities for service, and the staff are giving Scripture support to the Catholic Church in every way they can.

“We provide Study Bibles and Portions for special occasions,” Mr Badillo says. “We also provide materials on special topics for Catholic study groups and prepare Bible study materials for catechists. And we help train them.”

Co-operation with Catholics is also helping the Bible Society to make God’s Word available throughout Colombia.

“We have one project where we want to take the Bible to guerrilla bases,” Mr Badillo explained, “and we want to do it through the local vicar (a position between a bishop and a priest). We are negotiating with him to use 15,000 catechisms in the south where there are a lot of restrictions due to the political situation.”

Mr Badillo gave another example of the value of positive links with Catholics. “A vicar who was leaving for Rome was concerned that the continuity of his training program would be lost when he left,” Mr Badillo remembers. “So when the vicar who was replacing him arrived, I went to show him the pictures of our work.

“When I arrived he greeted me as ‘ Pastor’. You see, the old vicar had told him, ‘There is a pastor over at the Bible Society who can help.’ Later, I received a message from Rome that said, ‘Pastor, thanks for your help. Please do not leave the project, because it is very valuable.’ He had notified all the vicars that the Bible Society had qualified people who wanted to help.”

As a result of this relationship, the new vicar asked the Promoter for a ‘good price’ for 5,000 Bibles. And one of the best Bible Society customers in Bogotá is a priest who buys 2,000 to 5,000 Bibles at a time. There also a Catholic laywoman who has a group of 3,000 children who read the Bible.
“I think that of all the South American countries, Colombia has the best relationship between the Bible Society and the Catholic Church,” says Bible Society General Secretary Alfonso Corzo.