The
Pontifical Biblical Commission held its annual plenary session last
week, from 16 to 21 April, in the Domus Sanctae Marthae in Vatican City,
under the presidency of William Joseph Cardinal Levada, prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As at last year’s plenary session, Fr. Klemens Stock, SJ,
secretary general, chaired the session.

The PBC is still in the first stage of its study, in which it is focusing on the way in which inspiration and truth appear in Holy Scripture. Each participant in the session presented a report that was discussed by the whole assembly.

To the Venerable Brother

William Cardinal Levada

President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission

I am pleased to send you, Venerable Brother, to Prosper Cardinal Grech,
O.S.A., to the Secretary and to all the Members of the Pontifical Biblical
Commission my cordial greeting on the occasion of the annual Plenary Assembly
which is being held to address the important topic “Inspiration and Truth of the
Bible.”

As we know, such a topic is essential for a correct hermeneutic of the
biblical message. Precisely inspiration, as action of God, makes it possible to
express the Word of God in human words. Consequently, the topic of inspiration
is decisive for the appropriate approach to the Sacred Scriptures. In fact, an
interpretation of the sacred texts that neglects or forgets their inspiration
does not take into account their most important and precious characteristic,
that is, their provenance from God. Moreover, in my Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Verbum Domini, I recalled that “The Synod Fathers also stressed the
link between the theme of inspiration and that of the truth of the
Scriptures. A deeper study of the process of inspiration will doubtless
lead to a greater understanding of the truth contained in the sacred books.” (n.
19).

Because of the charism of inspiration, the books of Sacred Scripture have a
direct and concrete force of appeal. However, the Word of God is not confined to
what is written. If, in fact, the act of Revelation ended with the death of the
last Apostle, the revealed Word has continued to be proclaimed and interpreted
by the living Tradition of the Church. For this reason the Word of God fixed in
the sacred texts is not an inert deposit inside the Church but becomes the
supreme rule of her faith and power of life. The Tradition that draws its origin
from the Apostles progresses with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and grows
with the reflection and study of believers, with personal experience of the
spiritual life and the preaching of Bishops (cf. Dei Verbum, 8, 21).

In studying the topic “Inspiration and Truth of the Bible,” the Pontifical
Biblical Commission is called to offer its specific and qualified contribution
to this necessary further reflection. In fact, it is essential and fundamental
for the life and mission of the Church that the sacred texts are interpreted in
keeping with their nature: Inspiration and Truth are constitutive
characteristics of this nature. That is why your endeavor will be of real
usefulness for the life and mission of the Church.

With good wishes to each one of you for the fruitful development of your
works, I would like, finally, to express my heartfelt appreciation for the
activity carried out by the Biblical Commission , committed to promoting
knowledge, study and reception of the Word of God in the world. With such
sentiments I entrust each one of you to the maternal protection of the Virgin
Mary, who with the whole Church we invoke as Sedes Sapientiae, and I impart from
my heart to you, Venerable Brother, and to all the members of the Pontifical
Biblical Commission a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 18 April 2012

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

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