"Revived Bible interest among Roman Catholics

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33382, 14 November 1973, Page 13

"Revived Bible interest among Roman Catholics

The most spectacular ■ Biblical revival in the world today was happening among Roman Catholics, especially within the religious orders, said the Rev. J. G. Weller, acting general secretary for the Bible Society in New Zealand, on Monday evening. Mr Wells was formerly; general-secretary of the British Council of Churches, and he has travelled for the society for the last five years assisting in and observing translation and distribution of material. The reviving interest of Roman Catholic religious orders in the Bible meant that new material was finding its ways into schools and edu-

(cation programmes, Mr [Weller said at the annual (branch meeting of the society (in Christchurch. Another trend mentioned by Mr Weller was a resurgence of Christianity in China. “There is evidence, i although it is patchy, that Christian communities were i not liquidated, only separated,” he said. Bibles were finding their ( way into China through networks, a Chinese New Testament was expected to be ready for distribution next (year, and copies of scriptures in Mandarin were already cirIculating. In Eastern Europe, translation and production had tripled in the last four years. Africa had the fastest growing Christian population, and New Testaments had been translated and distributed in all the main languages. Even in the developed countries the Bible was experiencing an unprecedented popularity, said Mr Weller. Although the societies had translated Bibles and portions of it into more than 1500 languages, involving 90 per cent of the world’s population, 1800 languages remained, 600 of these being in Papua New Guinea.