CBCP eyes businessmen's help to give Bibles to poor, ignorant people

The Holy Bible and businesses do mix.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, who is the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate, yesterday said that they have asked the help of big businesses in the country to produce and sell five million copies of the Bible in five years at a cheap price of P50 each.

During the launching of the “May They Be One Bible Campaign—Help Put a Bible in Every Home,” Bastes said they have written to businessmen such as owners of top shopping centers in the country to support the campaign. “We have invited the leaders of big corporations, we are trying to reach out to them.”

When asked if the Philippine Bible Society has asked the businessmen for financial support, Bastes said, if “the people are more religious, when the people living the word of God then the business becomes strong and there would be more middle class to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.” He added, “Even businesses will continue to prosper if people will live by the Bible because the Bible makes you avoid idleness, it tells you to work. The Bible tells you that those who do not work should not even eat. So even the industry, working is found in the Bible. The Bible has so many good things to say to human beings not only for eternal life but even for life in this world.”

Copies of the books would be distributed to poor and very poor families. It would be available in three languages Tagalog, English and Cebuano.

Nora Lucero, PBS secretary general, said that in the 2005 survey conducted by AC Nielsen, which they commissioned, it appeared that in the national urban areas only about 40 percent of the families have Bibles, and the remaining 60 percent did not keep a copy of the holy book in their houses. “This is an indication that we are having problems in terms of morality. The Bible is the foundation of our moral being. With this campaign, we hope that more people would have a Bible, read it and be a source of blessings for them. By then we would see righteousness in our land, we will see peace in our land, and justice will be part of our national life as well,” Lucero said.

The CBCP-ECBA head said that they would be holding a three-day seminar to train Biblical animators on how best they could explain the Bible to illiterate persons. “There would be radio programs and television talk shows in the different dioceses. Each diocese should have a Commission for the Bible Apostolate and that commission is supposed to go around to all parishes of the diocese to teach the people.”