Vatican City, Sep 15, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Meeting with Biblical scholars at his Castelgandolfo summer residence earlier today, Pope Benedict said that the Church must live off and be constantly renewed by the Word of God in the holy scriptures. He also encouraged scripture study in which reading and prayer are inextricably linked--a practice which he believes, will lead to a new spiritual springtime.
The Pope received participants of a congress which is currently meeting in Rome on the theme, "Holy Scripture in the Life of the Church."
The international meeting, which stretches from September 14th through the 18th, is being jointly sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Catholic Biblical Federation (FBC). It also celebrates the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of Vatican Council II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation "Dei Verbum."
During this morning's meeting, the Pope expressed his thanks to the FBC for "its activities, the biblical pastoral activity it promotes, its faithful adherence to the indications of the Magisterium, and its openness to ecumenical collaboration in the biblical field." He also expressed "profound joy" that the congress is hosting fraternal delegates from Churches and ecclesial communities of the East and the West, as well as representatives from many other prominent world religions.