PRESENTATION
Read the Sacred Scriptures (LS) is a book of biblical catechesis, born out of a cycle of instructions that made up the meditation material of ten hours of adoration, guided by Don Alberione in the Church of St. Paul in Alba. The evening celebrations of some solemnities, like the first Sunday dedicated to Jesus Master, offered the occasion for celebrating together the Eucharist and the divine Magisterium, with the solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the commented reading of the Bible.1 The contents of those ten instructions were then distributed into thirty chapters and enriched with many examples and readings, in such a way that they served as daily meditation for an entire month.2
History of the text
The publication in printed form of the LS was made in Alba, at the new printing press of the Daughters of St. Paul (by then present also in Rome and in Messina, as one could read at the bottom of the cover). The edition is without any date, and could as well be considered anonymous inasmuch as it does not bear the author's name or the necessary episcopal imprimatur or any indication of time.
Nonetheless, the printing took place in 1933, as a circular letter of Don Alberione to the Daughters of St. Paul, dated 22 November 1933 shows: ...The book of visits [hours of preached adoration] on the Bible is already printed. During that year, issued was a mimeographed text on the Scriptures that continued the lessons of catechism held between 1926 and 1928, and then printed as appendix to the book Spirituali Esercizi alle Maestre of October 1936.3
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We find a significant confirmation in Abundantes Divitiae by Don Alberione himself. Writing in 1953 regarding the Gospel and the need that the Sacred Book come into every home, that devotion be directed to it, that it be preached and that it be above all lived, the Author recalled how, since the first years of his priesthood, he had the habit of explaining the sacred text during the Eucharistic celebration. He added: Hence the thirty adorations made much later at Saint Paul's that were preached and written [and later published] on Scripture in general and on the Gospel in particular (AD 140-143).4
After that first edition of the LS a reprint almost immediately followed, wherein corrections were made on the principal deficiencies of the text, with the introduction of the Imprimatur signed by the bishop, Luigi M. Grassi, and dated 1-XI-1933; with the addition, at the end of the book, of a declaration by the internal reviewer, Maestro Robaldo, with this also dated - 1 November 1933 - followed by the Nihil obstat of Msgr. Chiesa, Francesco.
Hence, the book LS is born at a time marked by two important documents on the reading of the Bible: the encyclical letter Providentissimus Deus by Leo XIII (1893), of which we shall speak below, and the encyclical letter Divino afflante Spiritu by Pius XII (1943), the two encyclicals that have contributed to ripen among Catholics the science and spirituality of the Bible, its ascetical application and pastoral use.5
Compilation: author and structure
As has been mentioned, the LS came out without any indication as to its author. Either in the cover or in the frontispiece,
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the author's name is substituted with the abbreviation G.D.P.H. (Gloria Deo, Pax Hominibus) that usually qualified the books published in collaboration. The preface is signed by the compiler, M. Ghiglione, ssp.
Even so, it is unquestionable that the author is James Alberione, in the sense explained by the compiler. At the original preface, signed M. Ghiglione S.S.P., we read: Invited by the very beloved Primo Maestro [Don Alberione] to take notes from the hours of adoration that he would have guided on the Bible, in order then to arrange them and to publish them, I gladly accepted... I tried to jot down, as much as I could, literally, the words of the Father, while adding to them some saying or event drawn from the Sacred Scriptures, from the holy Fathers, from the writings of the Supreme Pontiffs...
The reflections of the first four hours of adoration and of a part of the fifth, were published also in the bulletin, Unione Cooperatori Apostolato Stampa (1933-1934).6
The structure of the work and the division of the material are characteristic of Alberione's style. Faithful to his own method, Don Alberione articulated his discourse after the trinomial scheme TRUTH-WAY-LIFE. Thus the three points of every instruction were orderly gathered and distributed into the three parts of the book: I. The Bible and faith (Truth); II. The Bible and morals (Way); III. The Bible and cult (Life).
We have another testimony, much later but more detailed, by the same compiler:
Ariccia, 17.6.1981.
I. The notes taken down for the printing of 'Leggete le Sacre Scritture' [Read the Sacred Scriptures] were written on paper by me, and not recorded... I remember that I begged the Primo Maestro that, while preaching, he did not speak so fast, so that it would be possible for me to write down in pencil almost everything. The same manuscripts were typewritten by me and brought to the Primo Maestro. I recall that once in a while he noted words that he did not understand well, and he corrected everything.
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II. The additions made by me were the biblical quotes that the Primo Maestro, more or less, advised me to prepare; I used to show him five or six and he chose the most suitable ones. Similarly, he advised me to find for him some examples of persons who, while reading the Bible, knew how to draw fruits and conversion out of it; he, too, chose the most suitable ones.
III. It was the Primo Maestro himself who advised me to make three chapters for the three points of each hour of adoration (faith, morals, worship; Way, Truth, and Life); in that way, the book came out with thirty chapters, fit for a month of meditations on the Bible.
IV. As I have said, the Primo Maestro read and corrected the first typewritten draft, and suggested - before passing the original for printing - that the Servant of God Can. Chiesa and Fr. Robaldo7 read it.
V. You are asking me which of the text is more faithful: that of the book or that of the magazine 'Unione Cooperatori'; well, I believe that of the book because, with the magazine, one was often forced to summarize (Signed: don Ghiglione).8
The specimens we have in our hands, of the first edition and of the reprint (November 1933) respectively, show some variations that deserve to be marked.
1. On the cover of the first edition, aside from the title, the Gospel quote (with mistaken reference) and the publisher (Pia Società Figlie di San Paolo, Alba - Messina - Roma), a sketch in blue also appears, reproducing the symbol of the Bible: an
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open book, wrapped by a cloud, with the dove of the Holy Spirit hovering above.
- In the reprint, such a sketch is in yellow; the Gospel quote is corrected; the order of the publisher's location is changed as well (Alba - Roma - Messina), and at the back, an advertisement, inviting the acquisition of the new Italian Bible translated and commented on by Tintori, is shown.
2. In the text, the reprint is enriched with new elements:
- The Imprimatur, reproduced in handwritten signature Aloysius M. Grassi B.[Barnabite], dated Albæ Pompejæ 1-XI-1933-XI [=11th year of the Fascist Era];
- some twenty illustrations outside the text, with gospel scenes and portraits of sacred writers;
- an added 16-page folio, containing the liturgical texts of the masses of the Evangelists;
- the index of the volume (absent in the first edition);
- and on the last page, a declaration by G.E. Robaldo, reviewer; plus the Visto: nihil obstat by Can. F. Chiesa.
At the General Historical Archives of the Pauline Family, two other samples of the LS are kept. They bear some differences of layout with respect to the reprint we have already mentioned and even between them. This leads us to think that the first edition of the work had at least three reprints. Unfortunately, it is not possible to establish their succession, since also these samples lack any chronological reference, if we accept those of the Imprimatur and the Nihil obstat that are common to all.
A second edition of the LS was published in 1937, always in Alba, under the care of Fr. Fedele Pasquero,9 who, aside from putting as a premise a long introduction with a summary review of all the books of the Bible, notably retouched the text by eliminating or adding passages, and by transferring others to different locations.
The present edition for the Opera Omnia collection reproduces the text of 1933.
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Title and sources
To identify the sources of the LS, aside from the bible text translated from the Vulgate, is a very difficult undertaking. We shall try to do it at the footnotes as regards the names of persons and of quoted authors. Just once, on page 72, a book is mentioned, while not mentioning its author and title, probably a recent publication (about the years 1931-1932), from which context one could say that it is limited to the Acts of the Apostles. It seems to us, however, that in any case, Don Alberione drew his pieces of information, for the introduction of the individual books of the Bible, from one or more manuals of General Introduction to the Holy Scriptures.
As regards the title, the question might arise whether the formulation had been suggested by Don Alberione or chosen by the compiler: he was only 25 years old when he wrote the preface and signed himself M. Ghiglione S.S.P., not yet a priest or a perpetually professed member.
Nonetheless, the current title is inspired by the words of Jesus in debating with the Jews: You search the scriptures because you think you have eternal life through them; it's exactly they that testify on my behalf (Jn 5:39).
This passage, which already furnishes a key for reading the LS is herein used in the adaptive10 sense. Even so, Don Alberione here does not take lightly the studiousness of the Jews, characterized as those who read assiduously and who scrutinize the sacred text. The author's intention is to underline the importance of the reading of the Bible, and the verb read, used by Jesus in an indicative mode, is transformed into the imperative, or into an invitation: Read the Scriptures, because doing so is indispensable!11
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Fundamental themes of the book
The immediate goal of Alberione's preaching, and of the sub-sequent publication of the written word, was to inculcate some principles and attitudes held essential for every Christian, and more so for every religious called to the apostolate. For exam-ple:
a) the urgency of a spiritual reading of the Bible, more than an academic study;
b) the value of reading done together;
c) the need for relating the Scriptures to the community and apostolic life;
d) the suitability of reading under this light the whole Sacred Scriptures.
With this premise, we can group together the central theme of the LS into the following principal headings:
1. The Bible, book of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's work as regards the Sacred Scriptures is threefold: first of all, He moved, gave light and assisted the sacred writ-ers so that they might write without any error, everything and only what He willed, freely, in a suitable form, and without any error. In the second place, He enlightened the Church founded by Jesus Christ so that by virtue of the same Spirit she might keep them whole and genuine, infallibly interpret them, and communicate them to her children. But that is not all: it is also necessary that the Holy Spirit move men to read, incline their hearts to love the sacred book, open their minds to understand it according to the teachings of the Catholic faith, and that He may give them the grace of practicing what they may have read therein. Let us therefore invoke the Holy Spirit and let us ask that we may understand... Furthermore, let us ask the Divine Master for forgiveness for having so many times preferred to read human books instead of the Bi-ble; and to have preferred conversation with people rather than with God. (pp. 9-10)
2. Humanity's book. The Holy Bible has this pur-pose: it sets before the reader's eyes, as in a magnificent movie, the entire humanity with its great qualities and de-fects, its failures and ignorance, in order to teach it how it must regulate its life, win over passions, and acquire virtues in order to be crowned victorious in heaven one day. (p. 16)
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3. A father's letter. God addresses this letter of his to all, and what a distorted heart one would show, who, having received a letter from his faraway father, does not care to open it and read it! (pp. 19-20) Meanwhile we should read the Bible with immense affection and devotion, as a child far from his parental home reads the letter of his father. The Bible, in fact, is a letter the Heavenly Father sends to his children, all men. Let us read it! In it we shall find the way to Heaven. (pp. 32-33)
4. Bible and Catechism. So that the reading of the Bible may be effective and useful for our soul, it is not necessary to have long critical and historical notes; few words, useful to connect the Scriptural text with parallel truths in Sacred Theology and in the Catechism, would be enough. Let us pray so that the Lord may soon raise up that person who will make such a commentary that would be of very great effectiveness to souls. (p. 51)
5. A pastoral and apostolic Code Priests and clerics, open that most sacred book. There you have your code of conduct, your rule of life. There you shall learn how to save souls. (p. 73) The young man who reads the Bible with such an intention, shall see ahead of him limitless horizons. (p. 69) All must read the Sacred Scriptures, but the Apostle of the Press more than anyone else, before anyone else, and more constantly than any other, in order that he may not be a blind man guiding the blind. He who reads the divine book takes on the divine language, speaks the divine language, and acquires divine effectiveness. (p. 100) One called to the Press Apostolate and does not read and assimilate the divine truths of the Bible, sets himself outside his vocation. Indeed, he could do some work of apostolate, but it will not give life to souls. It will be a mere parade, something external and nothing more. (p. 317)
Readers: disciples of the Word
According to Don Alberione, he who reads the Scriptures becomes a convert and transforms himself into an authentic disciple and apostle like Paul. Without the reading of the Bible, on the other hand, a reader would not have a genuine religious, Catholic, spiritual, apostolic, and universal identity.
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In preaching devotion to the Word of God, blessed Don Alberione had before him the teachings and example of Jerome,12 the saint for whom the reader of the Bible is he who transmits the message from the author's mouth to the disciple's hearing. (Eph 53:2) He exercises the ministry of lector and teacher, like Jesus Master.
In order to carry out such a task, he needs to be a prudent, diligent, interested, zealous, and informed disciple: the five notes that qualify Jerome's biblical spirituality. The reader of the Bible is further qualified by a spiritual discipline, a search expressed by three verbs: to interrogate, to inquire, to comprehend. This search, or continuous interrogation of the written page - which resembles much the prayer of the searcher as taught by Jesus13 - is an adventure of the intelligence, a sanctification of the mind. In this journey, the Church's tradition is the fertile ground that allows one to achieve the understanding of Holy Scripture in the spirit in which it was written, according to the expression of Vatican Council II. (Dei Verbum 12,3)14
Aside from Jerome, Don Alberione has had as inspirer the magisterium of the Church of his time. He, in fact, quotes the encyclical Providentissimus Deus by Leo XIII.
Published in 1893 to encourage this excelling study of the sacred Letters and to lead it to conform more to the needs of the present times, the encyclical affirmed above all the need to intensify studies on the Bible in order to adequately defend the Scriptures as God's inspired word and source of salvation for all. Because of this, the Bible had to stay at the center of preaching. Among the Fathers of the Church was the most concrete example of high consideration for the Scriptures, considered as a very rich treasury of heavenly teachings, perennial font of salvation, a fertile field and a pleasant garden in which the flock of the Lord is wonderfully refreshed and recreated.
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Things, however, did not go as the encyclical desired.15 Among Catholics, the apologetic line prevailed rather than that of deepening of the biblical text, or of research and opening to new and more effective methods of interpretation. Rather than welcoming with an open heart historical studies and dialogue with philologists, archeologists, literary critics and, in general, the world of human sciences, normally there was preference to use biblical verses in order to demonstrate the dogmatic theses of the schools of theology inspired by Neo-Scholasticism.
From reading the LS we become aware that Don Alberione, also with a certain distrust for critical apparatus,16 guided his Family beyond the defensive or apologetic position, regarding the Bible as the book of the believer and the apostle rather than of the scholar. The present work teaches us to read and to bring up-to-date the text of the whole Bible at home - and, even better, in church - so that it immediately becomes the book of salvation, or way, truth, and life to bring, by every means, to all of humanity of today.
New orientations
To more strongly emphasize and better express the bringing up-to-date of the texts, upon which Don Alberione has always insisted, the Pontifical Biblical Commission, through the document The interpretation of the Bible in the Church, will intervene in 1993. We read: The interpretation of the Bible, although a special task of exegetes, is nonetheless not their monopoly inasmuch as in the Church it involves some aspects that go beyond the scientific analysis of the texts. In fact, the Church does not consider the Bible merely as a complex of historical documents concerning her origins; she receives it as the Word of God that is addressed to her and to the whole world at the
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present time. This conviction of faith has as a consequence the effort to bring up-to-date and inculturate the biblical message, as well as elaborate the different manners of usage in the inspired texts, in the liturgy, in lectio divina, in the pastoral ministry, and in the ecumenical movement. (n. 41)
In fact, Don Alberione promoted a reading of the Bible parallel to or mirroring the signs of the times, that is, an hermeneutics of the sacred text along with day-to-day history as reflected in the 'newspaper.' He always promoted together science, technological progress, and biblical faith within the great tradition of the Church.
Nevertheless, a biblical and ecclesial updating is necessary today even for the LS, less perhaps in the area of principles and declarations of intent, as in the area of orientations and, above all, practical suggestions. In fact, neither the world, nor science, nor the Church, have remained immobile since 1933. And Don Alberione, today, would not ignore the progress of the biblical as well as theological sciences.
Hence, with due respect for his charismatic intentions, and in homage to his new ecclesial dimension,17 we consider urgent an updated rereading of the LS, in the sense that it means continuing to walk ever with the Church and with the Pope.
The document on The interpretation of the Bible in the Church assists us in this subject by indicating a series of principles that lay the foundation for a correct practice of updating:
a) Bringing up-to-date is possible, because the biblical text, for its fullness of meaning, is valuable for all ages and for all cultures (cf. Mt 28:19). The biblical message can at the same time make relative and fruitful the value systems and the norms of behavior of every generation.
b) Updating is necessary because, although their message has lasting value, the texts of the Bible were written in view of circumstances in the past and in languages conditioned by different times. In order to manifest the meaning that they have for people of today, it is necessary to apply their message to the present circumstances and to express it in a language suited to the present time.
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c) The updating has to take into consideration the existing relationships between the Old and the New Testaments, due to the fact that the New appears as the fulfillment and the transcending of the Old. The updating is effected in conformity with the dynamic unity thus constituted.
d) The updating is achieved thanks to the dynamism of the living tradition of the community of faith. This is explicitly situated in the prolongation of the communities wherein the Scriptures are born, have been conserved, and transmitted.
e) Updating does not mean, therefore, manipulation of the texts. It has nothing to do with pro-jecting to the biblical writings opinions and new ideologies, but with sincerely seeking the light that they contain for the present time.
In its turn, however, updating presupposes a correct exegesis of the text that determines its literal sense. If the reader does not have personally a formation in exegesis, he must have recourse to good reading guides. In any case, updating requires at least three stages:
1.?to listen to the Word starting from the present situation;
2.?to discern the aspects of the present situation that the biblical text sheds light on or subjects to discussion;
3.?to draw from the full meaning of the biblical text those elements that can translate the present situation in a manner that is fruitful and in conformity with the saving will of God in Christ.
Finally, this operation would lose all validity if it were based on theoretical principles that disagree with the fundamental orientations of the Bible, like rationalism that rejects faith, or atheistic materialism.
An updated method of reading
A Pastoral Note of the Italian Bishops' Conference, The Bible in the life of the Church, published in 1995 suggests some norms for an ecclesial and vital reading of the Sacred Scripture, without, however, excluding a healthy pluralism of methods. (n. 17)
These practical pointers are in reality drawn from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and from the mentioned document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
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Further underlined by the bishops is exegesis which, as a search for the literal or objective meaning of the sacred text, renders indispensable the use of historical-critical method, for as long as it could be fittingly integrated with other methods. Decidedly excluded, however, is the fundamentalist reading or any other purely subjective approach. We must, moreover, pay attention to the content and unity of the entire Scriptures, and hence to the mystery of Christ and of the Church. The Scriptures are read, in substance, in the living tradition of the entire Church: hence, we must be attentive to the analogy of faith, or the cohesion of truths among them in the totality of the plan of Divine Revelation.
In the same Note, the Italian bishops invite the readers to carry out a process of inculturation and updating of the sacred text, thanks to which the Word of God resounds as a word of salvation for today.
In no. 18 of the Note there are concrete indications for a method of reading:
a) Pay attention to the literal meaning. Inasmuch as the written Word participates in the mystery of the Incarnation, it is indispensable to seek above all and always the literal and historical meaning, or what God himself has intended to communicate through the biblical authors. For this purpose, one must make use of instruments for a correct exegesis in order not to fall into arbitrary interpretations.
b) Compare a biblical passage with other texts of the Bible. The unity of the saving plan of God, which the Holy Spirit reveals in the Bible, requires that each part be read in relation to the whole, that a single passage be compared with others; in particular, that the Old Testament be read under the light of the New, where it finds its fullest meaning, but also that the New Testament be read in the light of the Old in order to recognize God's pedagogy, that sustains the entire history of our salvation.
c) Read the text in the ecclesial and sacramental context. Every encounter and use of the Bible to be authentic requires full agreement with the faith of the Church. When we read the Bible, we not only open a book, but we meet the Father, who in Christ and in the strength of the Spirit, truly speaks to us; and we truly hear the blessed Trinity if we have in us the attitude of
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understanding and fidelity to the Church, which has its origin in the Father, is Christ's body and is the spouse of the Spirit.
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Read the text driven by the great questions of today. Because they are the Word of the living God, the Sacred Scriptures are always contemporary and current for every reader: they enlighten him, call him to conversion, and comfort him. Through the reading of the past the Spirit helps us to discern the meaning that he himself gives to the problems and events of our time, enabling us to read the Bible with life and life with the Bible.
e)
Know how to correlate the Bible with life. Like every word, even that of God accepts to enter our ways of communication that must certainly respect his transcendent mystery but cannot lessen the responsibility of the Bible's pedagogy and didactics, according to the needs of biblical literature and message and in correlation with the condition of the recipients.
In conclusionLS is Don Alberione's work that more explicitly aims to give value to what was the ideal of his entire life and the
central goal of his apostolic charism:
the word of God, rendering the reading of the Bible familiar.
He stimulates us to
update ourselves with the Gospel, suggesting the recovery of
lectio divina, that age-old practice that was an essential part of monastic life inspired by
ora et labora. Even blessed Alberione is convinced that without piety,
study, apostolate, and poverty, the cart of apostolic life would come to a halt.
For the Pauline Family, and not only for it, the reading of the Bible has to be more important than the reading of the daily newspaper, the watching of TV, or the navigating of the internet. The Bible, let's say it again, is the letter that the Father sends to the world every day, precisely so that anyone who reads it may know that he is a child of God like Jesus Christ.
And we want to be such, both in our convictions and in our deeds.
Rome, 27 April 2003.ANGELO COLACRAI, SSP
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1 Cf. “Devozione a Gesù Maestro,” “Adorazione eucaristica e Culto del Vangelo,” in Gesù il Maestro, ieri, oggi e sempre, Excursus storico-carismatico, Società San Paolo, Roma 1997, pp. 86-101.
2 On the “Mese del Divin Maestro”, cf. Gesù il Maestro..., op. cit., pp. 94-98.
3 These pieces of information, like those that follow, are derived from a letter of Sr. Antonietta Martini FSP (1937-2003) to Angelo Colacrai, dated 6 April 1999. - On 13 November 1932, Don Alberione preached on the Sacred Scriptures and faith, published in three installments in UCAS 1933 (Unione Cooperatori Apostolato Stampa) of February (p. 9), March (p. 6) and April (p. 8). The same meditation, as some others on the Bible, was also published in mimeographed form (cf. MPM/c, Meditazioni del Primo Maestro 1932, General Archives of the Daughters of St. Paul).
4 Cf. AD 138: “In August 1907, he organized three Bible Sundays. He explained [the Bible] in a catechetical fashion and with catechetical applications.”
5 Such maturation would reach an authoritative and normative expression in the II Vatican Council, marked by Dei Verbum (DV), promulgated in 1965. This dogmatic constitution would become the magna charta of theological and pastoral use of the Bible.
6 Cf. A. DAMINO, Bibliografia di Don Giacomo Alberione, Roma 1994, Edizioni dell'Archivio Storico Generale della Famiglia Paolina, pp. 36-38.
7 Fr. Giovanni Evangelista Robaldo (Gorzegno di Cuneo 1896 - Rome 1977) was a faithful interpreter of Don Alberione's intention regarding bible publishing, especially of the Gospels, enriched with catechetical notes. He edited some fifteen different editions of the Holy Book, suited for specific ages and categories of persons, from children to mothers at home, from religious to parish communities, from engaged couples to military personnel...
8 Fr. Battista Ghiglione (Entracque di Cuneo 1908 - Alba 1992) entered the Society of St. Paul on 6 November 1922 and made his first profession of the vows in 1930, taking the religious name Girolamo. A perpetually professed member since Christmas 1934, he was ordained a priest on 21 December 1935. He was vice master, formator, community animator in different Pauline houses and responsible for many publications. From 1960 to 1962, he collaborated as an archivist in the Pontifical Commission for the Press and Entertainment, in preparation to the Vatican Council II.
9 A Pauline priest (Corneliano d'Alba 1911 - Albano Laziale 2001), a doctor in Sacred Scripture, edited numerous biblical publications, among which the Nuovissima Versione della Bibbia [Newest Version of the Bible] from the original texts, ed. San Paolo 1967-1980.
10 “The adapted sense... is the meaning we give to the words and to the phrases of the Bible. This sense can be more or less true, and more or less appropriated, according the rightness of intention and the degree of knowledge of him who does it.” (LS p. 42).
11 A “Pauline” invitation to the reading is found in Col 4:16: “And when this letter is read before you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and you yourselves read the one from Laodicea.” Here, “read” in Greek is in the aoristic conjunctive, with the exhortative value. In this grammatical form, the verb read is not found in any other passage of the New Testament.
12 Don Alberione often quotes him; cf. especially pp. 213, 245, 247.
13 Mt 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (cf. Lk 11:9f as well as Jer 5:1)
14 Cf. Il Grande Libro dei Santi, [The Great Book of the Saints] Dizionario Enciclopedico, San Paolo 1998, II, pp. 947-957.
15 The Divino Afflante Spiritu, by Pius XII (issued on 30 September 1943) would prove necessary. Other official documents would follow: the Instruction Sancta Mater Ecclesia of 1964; the Dei Verbum of Vatican Council II in 1965; and, of the PCB, The interpretation of the Bible in the Church in 1993.
16 Regarding this, let it be remembered that Modernism, drastically condemned by Pius X, was born with the passion at times exasperated of historical-critical studies. A. Loisy, who was placed in the index of forbidden books and excommunicated, was a bible scholar.
17 Don Alberione was proclaimed Blessed on 27 April 2003.