Bible Network News :: Africa - Catholics and Protestants partner in Bible translation

Catholics and Protestants partner in Bible translation

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (West Africa), Nov. 14 — A new translation of the Bible into Basic French ('Parole de Vie') was recently completed by a joint effort of the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible Society. The partnership continues as they promote the use this new Bible...

"In the past many priests and parishes were not informed about the work of the Bible Society and it is our job to communicate the good work going on in translation" said Cardinal Bernard Agré, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abidjan.

Editor's notes...

The Ivory Coast, or Côte d'Ivoire, is a small tropical country on the Atlantic Ocean side of Africa. It is a former French colony and has a population of about 15 million who may speak French or one of the 60 different local or tribal languages. Some of these have a portion of the Bible in their own language.
Estimates of the number of Christians vary from 12% to 25%, with Roman Catholics in the majority. The rest of the people are Muslim or follow native religions. The average family income is about US$ 2,000.

The TOB is the French version which corresponds to the Revised Standard Version in English. Parole de Vie means 'Word of Life' and it is the French version which corresponds to the Contemporary English Version.

Monsignor Paul Tacoury-Tabley, Bishop of Grand-Bassam, who worked with the Bible Society for many years recalled the partnership between the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible Society on a previous translation of the Bible known as the TOB (Traduction Oecumenique de la Bible).

"I went to Switzerland to argue the case for the TOB," he said. "Many people did not realize what a miracle it was to have the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches collaborating in the translation of the Bible."

Monsignor Tacoury-Tabley was instrumental in encouraging translation of the Bible into Basic French in the early 1990s. And he was the first to provide the Catholic Imprimatur for that version, which was published in 1993.

"One of the best things we can do is to work with the Bible Society, either in distribution or in translation. For me it is the TOB which brings us closer together. God will use His Word in His Church to prepare us for whatever lies ahead," said Monsignor Tabley.

He added, "I encourage the Bible Societies to continue their work of making the Bible available in all languages possible and in bringing down the price of Bibles. Everyone should be able to have their own Bible."

Source: United Bible Societies

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