Bible reading in Italy
Release Date: Wed 26th Nov 08
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‘In the beginning was the Word, but the Italians don’t read it.’
“In the beginning was the Word – but the Italians don’t read it” said La Stampa as a response to a recent survey done by Eurisko for the Catholic Biblical Federation. The survey showed that only 14% of Italians questioned were able to answer questions about the Bible correctly. Only 27% had read a passage from the Bible in the past year (compared with 75% in the USA) and only a small minority knew whether or not the Gospels were part of the Bible. Even first class honours students of Philosophy confused Paul with Moses and thought that Jesus wrote Genesis. Yet 88% of Italians describe themselves as Roman Catholics, three quarters claimed they kept a Bible at home, 79% felt their lives were “protected by God” although only 32% described themselves as “regular churchgoers”, compared with 45% in the US and 55% in Poland. However, 6 out of 10 Italians thought the Bible should be taught at schools.
Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, Bishop of Terni and head of the Catholic Biblical Federation in Italy, said the survey “offers a challenge to which we must respond”. Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the pontifical Council for Culture would have liked to see the Vatican included in the survey where “it might well have produced some surprising results”.
The XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, was held from 5th-26th October 2008 and, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI, took as its theme “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”. On the evening of Sunday the 6th October, Pope Benedict kicked off a Bible-reading marathon that lasted for seven days and needed 1,200 people to complete the task. Orthodox and Evangelical church leaders also participated in the reading that finished with the Book of Revelation a week later. The Pope may have read the first verses from Genesis, Andrea Bocelli may have sung excerpts, but it remains to be seen whether the Italian Roman Catholic public begin reading the Bible in more earnest.
According to the Venetian philosopher Massimo Cacciari, the Roman Catholic Church is to blame for this lack of biblical knowledge as it has kept a monopoly on the teaching of the Bible and imposes Episcopal authorisation upon those who teach religious education. So despite the fact that the 40 years following Vatican II have seen a steady increase in the number of homes possessing a Bible and the onset of the Internet age and multimedia communication, for many Italians the Bible remains a closed, mysterious book.
Source: La Stampa online, TimesOnline, ADNKronos international