Despite the differing interpretations of the Scriptures which have driven Christians away in the history of the Church, "The Bible has always been a shared heritage. Nothing brings the Churches and the Christian communities together like the Bible". It is "truly" the "foundation of ecumenical dialogue". It was said this morning at a press conference by card. Walter Kasper, president of the Papal Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians, as he took part in the signing of the agreement between the Catholic Biblical Federation and the United Bible Societies. The cardinal did not hide the ecumenical difficulties that concern the common interpretation of the Bible. "On its interpretation - he said - we divided". There have been "unilateral developments, limits and problems and misuses of the historical and critical methods". Sometimes, these methods "have separated us". "In so doing, we forgot that the Bible is a book born within the Church and for the Church". "We have to find agreement on the Bible". In this respect, Kasper pointed out that "ecumenical dialogue is not a diplomatic negotiation that aims at any compromise but it means reading and listening together to what God wants to tell us through the Holy Scriptures". However, the cardinal invited those present not to forget that Christians have "reached a common interpretation, not on all but on many controversial points". Then, he added, "we will and we can reconcile the different traditions and try to find a common language that is accessible and understandable by our contemporaries". "A lot - went on card. Kasper - remains to be done". Many have a Bible but "only few people read it and meditate on it in private. It is rarely read in the family and few people attend Biblical courses". That's why, at the end of his speech, the cardinal invoked "new ecumenical commitment for the Bible" and expressed the wish that the ecumenical movement may lead to "a new Biblical surge".
News by SIR