Remaining “faithful” to the biblical text, but at the same time trying to translate it “into a language more consonant to that in use today”.These, declared Cardinal Camillo Ruini, were the two “imperatives” adopted by the 250 bishops present at the 49th general assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, held in the Vatican from 20 to 24 May. In the course of the assembly the new version of the Bible for liturgical use was approved. It now awaits final vetting by the Holy See. The “effort” of the bishops in preparing the new translation, Cardinal Ruini explained, was that of “increasing fidelity to the original text”, while at the same time bearing in mind the fact that “the Italian language is evolving” and that already in the last version of the Bible, which appeared some 30 years ago, the differences of language are considerable. Tracing the course of an enterprise that lasted 14 years, Ruini recalled that the process of preparing the new translation of the Bible for liturgical use was “very long”, and pointed out that it is the result of the patient work of experts and the consultation of the permanent Council.
