Documents from Recent Ecumenical Councils:

• SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL:  DEI VERBUM  ("Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation" - November 18, 1965)
  • English translation from the Vatican website; other copies in English also at CIN or EWTN Library
  • Spanish translation and several other languages also available from the Vatican website
  • See also my Outline of Dei Verbum, as compared to the biblical section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
     
• First Vatican Council: Dei Filius ("Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith" - April 24, 1870)
  • Session III, see esp. Chapter II - "On Revelation"; Chapter III - "On Faith"; Canon II - "On Revelation"; and Canon III - "On Faith"
• Council of Trent (ed. J. Waterworth, 1848; another copy online at EWTN Library):
  • Session IV, First Decree ("Concerning the Canonical Scriptures" - April 8, 1546)
  • Session IV, Second Decree ("Concerning the Edition and Use of the Sacred Books" - April 8, 1546)
  • Session V, Second Decree ("Concerning Reform" - June 17, 1546)

• Part One: The Profession of Faith; Section One: "I Believe" - "We Believe"; Chapter Two: God Comes to Meet Man
  • Article 1 (par. 51-73): "The Revelation of God"
  • Article 2 (par. 74-100): "The Transmission of Divine Revelation"
  • Article 3 (par. 101-141) "Sacred Scripture"
  • Spanish translation and several other languages also available from the Vatican website
  • Article 1; Article 2; Article 3 also available in English at the ChristusRex website

• "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church" (April 23, 1993) - one large file, or several smaller files for faster download
  • Published in Origins 23.29 (Jan. 6, 1994) 497-524; another online copy available at the EWTN Library
  • See also "Interpreting the Bible: Three Views" - three analyses of this PBC document, from First Things Magazine
• "Instruction on the Historical Truth of the Gospels" (a.k.a. "Sancta Mater Ecclesia"; April 21, 1964)
  • See also J. Fitzmyer, "The Biblical Commission's Instruction on the Historical Truth of the Gospels," TS 25 (1964) 386-408
  • A different English translation is also available in CBQ 26 (1964) 299-312.
• All documents issued by the PBC - listed in reverse chronological order, from the Vatican Website
  • See esp. "The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible" (May 24, 2001)
  • See also Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: "On the Relationship between the Magisterium and Exegetes" (May 10, 2003) - an address presented "On the 100th Anniversary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission"; another copy at EWTN Library

• Pope Leo XIII: 
  • Encyclical Providentissimus Deus ("On the Study of Holy Scripture" - November 18, 1893)
  • Apostolic Letter Vigilantiae Studiique ("Instituting a Pontifical Commission for Biblical Studies" - October 30, 1902)
• Pope Pius X: 
  • Apostolic Letter Quoniam in re biblica ("On the Study of Scripture in Seminaries" - March 27, 1906)
• Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis ("On the Doctrines of the Modernists" - September 8, 1907) - another copy at CIN
• Apostolic Letter Praestantia Scripturae Sacrae ("On the Decisions of the Biblical Commission" - November 18, 1907 - from EWTN Library)
• Pope Benedict XV:
  • Encyclical Spiritus Paraclitus ("On St. Jerome" - September 15, 1920)
• Pope Pius XI:
  • Apostolic Letter Bibliorum Scientiam ("On Academic Standards for Teachers of Scripture" - April 27, 1924)
• Pope Pius XII:
  • Encyclical DIVINO AFFLANTE SPIRITU ("On the Most Opportune Way to Promote Biblical Studies" - September 30, 1943) - another copy from CIN
  • Encyclical Humani Generis ("On Certain False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine" - August 12, 1950) - see esp. paragraphs 21-25 & 35-39
• Pope Paul VI:
  • Apostolic Letter Sedula Cura ("On New Laws Regulating the Pontifical Biblical Commission - June 27, 1971)
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission: "On the Ecclesial Role of Biblical Studies" (March 14, 1974) - in French only
• Pope John Paul II:
  • Apostolic Constitution Scripturarum Thesaurus: "Promulgating the Neo-Vulgate Edition of the Holy Bible" (April 25, 1979) - Latin text from the Vatican Website; English Translation at EWTN Library
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission: "On the Biblical Sciences and the Teaching Office of the Church" (April 26, 1979) - original French text; Italian translation also available on the Vatican Website
  • Address Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Dei Verbum (Dec. 14, 1990)
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission: "On the Nature of Catholic Interpretation of the Bible" (April 11, 1991)
  • Address on the Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (April 23, 1993) - in Italian only
  • Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth" (October 22, 1996) - from the New Advent website
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission: "On the Role of the Old Testament for Knowing Jesus" (April 11, 1997) - Italian text and Portuguese translation from Vatican website; English translation at EWTN Library
  • Address to a Conference on Biblical Language and Media (Sept. 28, 1998) - brief welcoming address
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (April 29, 2003) - brief welcoming address
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (April 20, 2004) - brief welcoming address
• Pope Benedict XVI:
  • Address to the Participants in the International Congress Organized to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation "Dei Verbum" (Sept. 16, 2005) - brief welcoming address
  • Weekly Angelus Message (Nov. 6, 2005) - brief comments focusing on Dei Verbum and the Sacred Scriptures
  • Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (April 27, 2006) - brief welcoming address
  • General Audience (Nov. 7, 2007) - focusing on fourth-century biblical scholar St. Jerome (part 1)
  • General Audience (Nov. 14, 2007) - focusing on fourth-century biblical scholar St. Jerome (part 2)

• Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio - entire Latin text, from the Vatican website - another copy at Domus Ecclesiae

• Liturgiam authenticam (Fifth Instruction "For the Right Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council"); from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (March 28, 2001)
  • Latin Text; English Translation;  Vatican Press Release
  • Responses from the Catholic Biblical Association of America: Letter to the U.S. Bishops;  Presentation by Fr. Richard Clifford, S.J.
• Biblical Fundamentalism: What Every Catholic Should Know - a short book by biblical scholar Ronald Witherup, S.S. (Liturgical Press, 2001)
• "The Fundamentalist Challenge" - a four-page flyer, by biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown, S.S. (May 1990, Catholic Update series)
• "Toward Your Happiness: Catholicism and Fundamentalism: A Contrast" - A Pastoral Letter to Catholics in Mississippi and Alabama (June 29, 1989)
• "A Pastoral Statement for Catholics on Biblical Fundamentalism" - from the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Biblical Fundamentalism (Washington: USCCB, 1987)
• "The Proclamation of the Birth of Christ" - a.k.a. the Christmas Proclamation; published by the USCCB; here is my own comparative analysis of Old and New Translations
  

• Best Recent Collection: Béchard, S.J., Dean P., ed. The Scripture Documents: An Anthology of Official Catholic Teachings. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002.
• Another Good Edition: Lysik, D., ed. The Bible Documents. A Parish Resource. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2001.
• Excellent Survey Article: Raymond E. Brown, S.S., and Thomas Aquinas Collins, O.P., "Church Pronouncements,"  in: The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990) 1166-74.
   
• Denzinger, Heinrich, and Adolf Schönmetzer. Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum. 37th edition. Freiburg, Basel, Rome & Vienna: Herder, 1991.
• Megivern, James J. Official Catholic Teachings: Biblical Interpretation. Wilmington, NC: Consortium Books, 1978.
• Rome and the Study of Scripture: A collection of papal enactments on the study of Holy Scripture together with the decision of the Biblical Commission. 7th edition. St. Meinrad, IN: 1962.
• Enchiridion Biblicum: documenta ecclesiastica Sacram Scripturam spectantia. 4th edition. Naples & Rome, 1961.
   
• Most of the above documents are also on a CD, "Welcome to the Catholic Church," by Harmony Media, Inc.
  

This page was last updated on December 14, 2007
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