Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Manila (Fides Service) - A warm welcome has been given to new inter-confessional Bible in Tagalog, the official national language of the Republic of the Philippines where English is also used in public administration. Tagalog, the name and the language of the people in central Luzon. modern Tagalog includes words in Spanish and English inherited from the colonisers.
The Bible presented by the Philippines Bible Society is especially intended for Basic Ecclesial Communities and for use among people in remote areas without a resident priest and where visits by local or missionary priests are not frequent. To make the Word of God accessible to more people, particularly people with little schooling the new edition is sold at a very low price, about 150 Pesos, (3,50 Euro) the Bible Society said.
The new Tagalog Bible has also a glossary of biblical terms, a chronological table and geographical maps. There have been many request for the new Bible from priests and missionaries working in Mindanao and Luzon and first 50,000 copies are expected to sell immediately.
The Bible uses simple language which is closer to Tagalog spoken today while being a faithful translation of the original. This is to bring the Word of God to the men and women of the third millennium. The Church in the Philippines encourages Catholics to read, meditate and pray the Bible every day. The Word of God, the Bishops say, must be “an essential point of reference for all Christians”. (Agenzia Fides 7/3/2006 righe 24 parole 242)
