Study the Bible with the Pope

Jacopo da Ponte (Bassano) (1510-1592)

Detail of Paradiso terrestre (Terrestial Paradise)

1568 - 1576

Oil on canvas

77 x 109 cm

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Rome

The Pope has recently started a new cycle of catecheses on "Prayer"

However with this series he has a deeper purpose. He wants to reflect on certain figures of the Old and the New Testaments

In doing so he wants to engage on Lectio Divina on certain passages in Scripture

It is quite a radical step: Bible study with the Pope

In the allocution on Abraham on Wednesday, 18 May 2011 he said:

"In the last two Catecheses we have reflected on prayer as a universal phenomenon which — although in different forms — is present in the cultures of all times

Today instead I would like to start out on a biblical path on this topic which will guide us to deepening the dialogue of the Covenant between God and man, which enlivened the history of salvation to its culmination, to the definitive Word that is Jesus Christ.

This path will lead us to reflect on certain important texts and paradigmatic figures of the Old and New Testaments. ...

And I would also like to ask you to benefit from the journey we shall be making in the forthcoming catecheses to become more familiar with the Bible, which I hope you have in your homes and, during the week, to pause to read it and to meditate upon it in prayer, in order to know the marvellous history of the relationship between God and man, between God who communicates with us and man who responds, who prays."