Pope encourages CTS’s “important work”
Following this week’s General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI offered warm words of encouragement to the apostolic work of the Catholic Truth Society (CTS).
Bishop Paul Hendricks , chairman of the CTS, met the Pope after the Audience in St Peter’s Square and personally presented him with a boxed edition of the CTS New Catholic Bible , published six months ago to wide acclaim, and soon to be reprinted due to popular demand. This presentation echoes that of 1956, when Pope Pius XII was presented with the CTS’s Douay Bible.
The Holy Father expressed great interest in the Bible, which is designed to support closely the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church, and encouraged the CTS in its important work of evangelisation and education.
Bishop Hendricks was accompanied in Rome by Fergal Martin , CTS General Secretary, and Piero Finaldi , Editor, who were closely involved in the development and completion of this major publishing project.
Mr. Martin commented,
“I’m delighted that Pope Benedict was so interested in our work and particularly in our New Catholic Bible. It was a memorable day, and a joy to be so close to the Holy Father, on behalf of all of us in the Society.
“I carried with me the intentions, hard work and prayers of so many people involved in our apostolate over the years, especially the thousands of CTS Members and supporters both in Britain and around the world. It has been a great blessing for the CTS, a great encouragement – in the year of our 140th Anniversary.”
Piero Finaldi, who managed the Bible project, added:
“The CTS Bible has been a real labour of love for myself and for Fr Henry Wansbrough OSB . Throughout, we have been inspired by the principles set down by Pope Benedict when he was in charge of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. So after 3 years’ work it was great to be able to present the Holy Father with a version of the Word of God which embodied his clear vision of how best to help the faithful.”
“The theme of the General Audience was also especially encouraging for us. Speaking on St Gregory the Great, the Holy Father reminded us that this saintly pope was a ‘passionate reader’ of scripture, from which the Christian can draw ‘daily nourishment for his soul’. This accords very well with our original intention in creating this Bible. When he referred also to the successful mission that Pope St Gregory sent to England, the Pope reminded me of the pastoral care that every Pope has for each nation of the world, including ours.”
CTS’s New Catholic Bible is the only English edition that contains exactly the same Scripture text as used in the Catholic Liturgy. It was designed to help people understand the word of God in the Mass and the sacraments, and contains indexes and notes to help the reader find the daily Mass readings and get a deeper understanding of them. The Bible was created in 4 bindings to suit different budgets and uses: Compact, Standard, Travel and Presentation.