The Catholic Biblical Federation (CBF) celebrated its International Congress in Rome with the goal of making the Bible always more the center of the lives of believers. This year’s meeting included about ten guest speakers, times of comparison of ideas among the participants and, in closing, a meeting with Pope Francis.
The theme of the Congress was The Bible and Life: the Biblical Inspiration of the Entire Pastoral Life and Mission of the Church – Experiences and Challenges. The Congress, which was held in conjunction with the Federation’s 50th anniversary of foundation (it was inaugurated by Pope Paul VI on 16 April 1969), reflected on the work the Federation has accomplished and on the fruits reported by the Federation itself, identifying the challenges facing biblical ministry in the current ecclesial situation and outlining its objectives for the coming years.
Today, the Catholic Biblical Federation, an international organization at the service of the biblical apostolate according to the directives of Vatican Council II, is present in 127 countries. The Institute of the Daughters of St. Paul has always been an associate member of the Federation and fully shares its objectives, namely: the promotion, translation and distribution of the Bible in different languages; Bible study and the production of educational tools that make the Word of God accessible at all levels; cooperation between biblical studies and biblical ministry and the exchange of experiences relative to this; inter-faith dialogue based on the Scriptures, etc.
This year’s Congress was attended by following FSPs: Sr. Noemi Bergamin as our Congregation’s representative; Sr. Teresa Marcazzan for East Africa; Sr. Zuleica Aparecida Silvano for Brazil and Sr. Elisabete Corazza for Angola.
