MALAWI: Vice President takes lead in promoting the New Catholic Answer Bibles
Hon. Saulos Chilima, Vice President of Malawi, Promoting the New Catholic Answer Bible
Malawi, Promoting the New
Catholic Answer Bible
The Vice President of Malawi Hon. Saulos Chilima has taken lead to promote the New Catholic Answer Bible. The Bible which is an initiative of the Pastoral Directorate of The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM). The Bishops’ Conference has embarked on a national wide promotion campaign which aims at ensuring that every Catholic in Malawi to have a copy.
Speaking to both the 7:30 am and 9:30 am masses at St. Patrick’s Parish in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe on Sunday June 26, Chilima said that the new Bibles answer all the misconception and questions that both Catholics and people of other denominations do not understand.
According to Chilima, the new answer Bible’s uniqueness is that it addresses questions like whether Catholics worship Saints which is ably answered in Deuteronomy 5: 7,9 and Acts 17:28. Many Catholic Christians were inspired and liked the Bibles in terms of its uniqueness and outlook.
“Among other facts about this Bible is that it captures what Catholics believe in and why. It has 88 common questions and answers about Catholic belief and practices which is the first of its kind in the country. It also gives one an opportunity to respond confidently when challenged about the Catholic Church and its teachings instead of shying away,” said Chilima.
“The Catholic Answer Bible also gives scriptural references to back up the responses and invites the reader to yet another powerful and important Church document for Catechesis; the Catechism of the Catholic Church, while providing an opportunity to increase knowledge of the Bible and deepen one’s appreciation of it,” added Chilima.
Chilima also said that the new Bible gives more lessons about the Catholic faith and its origins and has one of the powerful documents on Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Divine Revelation with the Church’s instructions and how to interpret scripture.
The Pastoral Marketing Officer for the New Answer Bible, Sidonia Dzikolidaya said that the goal of the project which is funded by the Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa, is to reach out to 70 percent of the elite Catholics with the Bible and letting them use the Bible in major gatherings as the main reference point.
“We would also want to promulgate the advantages of using the New Catholic Answer Bible in the current milieu the Church is found today and to reach out to the elite and the youth especially those doing tertiary level of education so that through its use, they are enabled to respond to questions that affect Catholic doctrine,” she said.
She said the Bibles which are selling at approximately US Dollars 35 (K25, OOO) and US Dollars 21 (K15, 000) depending on the quality are available at Catholic Secretariat in Lilongwe and in all Catholic Bookshops across the country.
She said meanwhile, the Bibles are in English and plans are underway to have them translated in the local language of Chichewa and Tumbuka.
“You can easily identify these Bibles because they have a special logo for the Episcopal Conference of Malawi at the back and on the side cover. It has prologue to each chapter and the outline of the chapter and also it has footnotes that put a lot meaning to the phrases and word mentioned in the chapter,” said Dzikolidaya adding that it has large print format which helps for reading and study the Bible.
ECM Pastoral Department reprinted the New Catholic Answer Bible, initially published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) upon an agreement between the two conferences on a contract which will run for five years.
By Prince Henderson, ECM Communications Officer
