"The difficulties that get in the way of the announcement of the Gospel, such as the physical lack of Bibles in many languages, must be overcome. In this respect, according to the source of the Universal Biblical Alliance of 2004, the Bible seems to have been fully or partly translated into 2,355 languages, while the world’s languages are up to 6,700, with 3,000 most commonly spoken ones”. It was said in the Vatican today by mgr. Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Episcopal Synod, during the press conference for the presentation of the “Lineamenta” of the XII Ordinary general assembly of the Episcopal Synod that will deal, from 5th to 26th October 2006, with "God’s Word in the life and mission of the Church". "To promote a strong, reliable pastoral of God’s Word he added , the biblical apostolate, aimed at spreading the practice of the Bible through special aids, is extremely helpful”. In this respect, he mentioned the presence of the World Catholic Biblical Federation, established by Paul VI in 1968, which he recalled "aims at circulating the Bible in different languages”.
