50th Anniversary of the Catholic Biblical Federation

26 Apr 2019

From 23–26 April 2019, 300 participants from 68 countries took part in the International Biblical Conference on the theme “The Bible and Life” organized in Rome by the Catholic Biblical Federation (CBF) to mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation. In the private audience with participants at the conclusion of the meeting, Pope Francis reflected in his address on the relation between the Bible and life. During the opening ceremony, Cardinal Kurt Koch presented a paper entitled “The Word of God as the Soul of the Pastoral Life of the Church in the Ecumenical Community”.

The CBF traces its origins to the initiative of Cardinal Augustin Bea, President of the then Secretariat for Christian Unity in 1969, and maintains ongoing contact with the Holy See through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The aim of the CBF is to instil a biblical dimension in all fields of pastoral life, taking inspiration from the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum 22. The CBF is currently presided by Cardinal Luis A. Tagle, and has 350 members operating in 130 countries.