VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 1, 2005 (Zenit.org).- More than 400 participants, including some 100 bishops, will meet in Rome this month for an international Bible congress.
The meeting, under the theme «Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church,» will help mark the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on divine revelation, «Dei Verbum.»
The constitution «led to a growing awareness of the significance of Holy Scripture, promoted the biblical pastoral ministry, and gave new impetus to the scientific study of the Bible,» said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
That pontifical council is organizing the Sept. 14-18 conference jointly with the Catholic Biblical Federation. The event will be held in the Aurelia Convention Center, Rome.
Organizers in a statement said: «The topics to be emphasized here are, among others: exegesis, catechesis and liturgy; interreligious dialogue with Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism; the challenges created by the sects and the growing problem of fundamentalism; the question of religious values in the secularized societies; and the theme of justice and peace in a globalized world.»
Key speakers at the conference include Cardinal Kasper; Cardinal Carlo Martini, the former archbishop of Milan; and Archbishop John Onaiyekan, chairman of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. More than 50 specialists will also address the congress.
More information is available at www.c-b-f.org or www.deiverbum2005.org.
