Synod 2008

The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church

The United Bible Societies (UBS) was one of the special guests at the Synod of Catholic Bishops at the Vatican, which had as its theme The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church. The resources on this page chart some of the collaborative work between UBS and the Catholic Church during the Synod in October 2008.

55 propositions emanating from the Synod

Signing of the Joint Statement on Partnership in Biblical Ministry

On Tuesday 14 October, UBS and the Catholic Biblical Federation signed a new Joint Partnership on Bible Ministry, giving testimony to the growing collaboration between their two organisations.  The Revd Dr Miller Milloy (pictured to right with Cardinal Walter Kasper), said: 'The signing of this Joint Statement is a public affirmation of the cooperation that has existed between CBF and UBS since 1969. But more than this, it is a public declaration of the intention of the two organisations to deepen their collaboration in the years to come.
Read the press release on the signing of the joint statement (pdf)

Miller Milloy, UBS General Secretary, addresses Synod

In an address to the Synod, Dr Milloy said that it had been gratifying during the past 40 years to see 134 UBS translations completed in collaboration with the Catholic Church. But he added, 'It is surely to the shame of all churches and all Christians that, with 7.000 languages in the world, only in 438 of them is there a translation of the complete Bible.' He told the Synod that UBS was currently involved in more than 646 Bible translation projects and was keen to do more as funding became available.

Read the complete address (pdf).

Bible Societies and the Synod

The Italian Bible Society hosted several events during Synod and produced an exhibition on global Bible translation work.

The German Bible Society presented delegates with a collection of its scholarly editions, namely the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, Rahlfs-Hanhart Septuaginta and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (see image below).

Meanwhile, to coincide with the Synod, the Philippine Bible Society and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines have recently launched May They Be One, a campaign aiming to raise the money to put a Bible in every Catholic home in the country for as low as price as possible within the next five years. A special reception was held at Synod to promote the campaign.
Watch a video explaining the campaign.

Further information

Lineamenta

Instrumentum Laboris