Rita Salerno (courtesy)

Italian version

 
A theology graduated from the Lateran University, where he obtained also the philosophy licence, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia had also a pedagogy licence from the University of Urbino and was ordained Priest on 15^th March 1970. He was rector of the St. Egidio Church in Trastevere, pastor of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and Prefect of the third prefecture of Rome. He is the postulator of the beatification cause of the Bishop in San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romeo. On 2^nd April 2000, he was ordained bishop of Terni Narni Amelia, in the Cathedral of San Giovanni in Laterano and entered the Diocese on 16^th April. In the month of September 2002, the Holy See appointed him as President of the International Catholic Biblical Federation. Since May 2004 he is President of the Ecumenism and Dialogue Commission of the Italian Episcopal Conference. He has been the Ecclesiastic General Assistant of the community of St. Egidio, which he has been following since from the years '70.  He participates regularly in the "Men and Religions" Association of the St. Egidio Community, which organises ecumenical and inter-religious meetings. Enrolled in the Lazio's Order of journalists, he collaborates with reviews, newspapers and with radio and TV programmes.

We addressed to him some questions on religious life and on the Scriptures, on the occasion of the International Congress on the "Bible in the life of the Church", which was celebrated in Rome from 14^th till 18^th September instant. The Congress was organised by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the Christian unity, and by the International Catholic Biblical Federation.  On 14^th September, at 16.oo, he delivered an opening address in the mentioned Congress.

How does the Bible interpellate the consecrated life?

"If we look at the Church History during the past two thousand years, we must say that, generically understood, the consecrated life is the proof of the primacy of the Word of God. In all the fundamental sides of the Christian Church History, whenever the Bible has been welcomed radically, new religious movements have been born. Let us think, for instance, of the big turn of Manicheism in the first millennium, or of the other considerable change, in the first millennium, when Francis of Assisi wanted to listen to the Gospel sine glossa, that is literally. This is true also of the other great religious figures and movements of modern times, as well as of those between the eighth and the ninth centuries. I would say, therefore, that the Bible even today, somehow, challenges the Consecrated Life so that the religious may restore in the Church the awareness of the beauty and the deep strength of living the Gospel without additions".

Today, the religious life faces great changes crossed by complex challenges in a society marked by contrasting signals. Can the Bible be a privileged instrument for the religious to be credible instruments of Christ and a hope for a not yet pacified world?

"I believe that at the beginning of this millennium the religious ought to manifest the force of the Gospel that changes our personal life and, therefore, the life of the world. In fact, the world can pluck peace only from a pacified heart. The great Russian Saint, Seraphine from Sarov, said, "Acquire peace in your heart and you will see thousands of people running to surround you". My hope and my prayer is that all the Religious Congregations,  particularly the women religious, may, like Mary, come to the rescue of this new century, which is already old, which lives moments of a very serious danger, by manifesting the beauty of believing in God, the beauty of fraternal life, the beauty of spending one's life for the sake of others. In fact, it is this, after all, that the Word of God witnesses in the world: there is more joy in giving than in receiving. Now, who are those who, more than women,  know  what it means to give life to others?

On the occasion of the press conference for the introduction of the national congress, you said that the Bible has too little a space in the life of the faithful.  How to plug this gap, and how to quench the desire of the faithful for the Word of God? Is there any role the women religious can play in this sense?

"There is no doubt that the small survey conducted in Italy, France and Spain shows the rare presence of the Bible in the life of the faithful, as well as often also in the pastoral life. This is why sometimes our communities are somehow stifling, with insufficient breath. The women religious, who find the sense of their life in the Word of God, are expected to communicate the primacy of God's love for all, with their example and word. Then, I would say that the women religious should show to all our brothers and sisters that the personal Bible, which they would never separate themselves from even when they enjoy their vacation, is a treasure which all the Christians should possess. Therefore, at the beginning of this new millennium, I would like to see the woman religious with the Bible under her arm, witnessing to it with her life and word".

The Year of the Eucharist is a pressing invitation to re-enthrone the Eucharistic Mystery at the very centre of our life. How to live it day after day, according to you?

"In continuation of what I have said about the Word of God, I would state that we should live Emmaus every day:  in our day-to-day life, we ought to have Jesus opening our intelligence and enabling us to see Him in the sacrament of the broken bread, then in the sacrament outside the church, namely in the poor. The Bible, the Eucharist, the poor are a unique itinerary capable to witness to the beauty of Christian life and the changing power in the world".

In times full of menaces, caused by attacks on behalf of the fundamentalists, there is also the risk, as mentioned by you, that the Bible may be misinterpreted or, which is worse, may be considered as relative. How to avoid this risk in the light of the international situation?

"I think that the Bible has not to be separated from the concrete life of the Christian community. The Bible must be read always "on the knees of the Church", as St. Augustine said. This avoids both the fundamentalism and the relativism. The Bible becomes the Book in which our heart is warmed to live together the life, which the Lord shows us daily.  If our heart be warmed by the Word of the Lord,  we shall see better  and act more efficaciously in the situations in which we live. I wish to suggest what Karl Barth, a great man and theologian, loved to say, "the Christian should always have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other". I think that by reading together these two papers, these two words, is the best way of assisting ourselves and those whom we meet, to walk on the way of God".

The international congress, promoted on the 40^th anniversary of the dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, aimed at drafting the first evaluation of the journey made during these forty years and, at the same time, to study some perspectives. What are your opinions on this regard?

"During the latest forty years, after the Council, there has certainly been a revolution in the life of the Church. One of its causes has been just the listening to the Bible. We have made an enormous journey in this sense, though there is still a long way to go. In fact, eighty per cent of the practising faithful in Italy, Spain and France listens to the Bible only on Sundays at Mass; only three per cent of the practising ones read it every day. Now, I ask myself: though the Bible is still scarcely read, we have succeeded to make a considerable progress in the life of the Church and of its presence in the world, what would happen if all of us were to run  to this source of grace, the Word of God, more frequently? Thus, if we nourish ourselves with the bread of the Word of God, we can surely make the remaining journey more speedily and solidly".

Does your wish of a renewed enthusiasm on behalf of the faithful around the Bible contemplate also the mass media of communication? Is the, often accused, television of any use to arise this new enthusiasm?

"There is no doubt about it! Whenever we get enthusiastic about something, we definitely take it everywhere. The problem with the mass media is just that they are means. The problem is the content. If we fill them with our enthusiasm, if we turn them into instruments of the Word of God, then we understand how necessary it is to utilise them. The apostle Paul says, "Let the Word of God make its course as fast and as widely as possible". The mass media can accelerate the journey and widen the horizon".