25TH ANNIVERSARY OF INTERDENOMINATIONAL BIBLE TRANSLATION

VATICAN CITY, NOV 26, 2001 (VIS) - This morning, in the Room of Popes, John Paul II welcomed leaders of the Universal Biblical Alliance, representatives of editors and members of Italian Churches and ecclesial communities on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of the volume "The Lord's Word, the New Testament, Interdenominational Translation in Common Language."

"This important Biblical and ecumenical initiative," he said, "has reached praiseworthy goals, which went well beyond the hopes of those who conceived it and started out twenty-five years ago. The publication of an interdenominational translation in common parlance is an initiative of major ecumenical importance enacted in Italy."

The Pope then underscored how "The work of a translator is always a difficult art." He added that "A good translation is based on three pillars that must contemporaneously support the entire work. First, there must be a deep knowledge of the language and the cultural world at the point of origin. Next, there must be a good familiarity with the language and cultural context at the point where the work will arrive. Lastly, to crown the work with success, there must be an adequate mastery of the contents and meaning of what one is translating."

"You wished to make the text comprehensible to modern readers, using words and forms of everyday language," the Holy Father said. "I recall that it was precisely this translation of the Bible that was used during World Youth Day in Rome in August of 2000."

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