Catholic News Agency reports that the United States Conference of “Catholic Bishops” (USCCB) has approved a new “Catholic American Bible” for liturgical and personal use, scheduled for implementation by 2027. This translation combines the New American Bible Revised Edition’s Old Testament with the Abbey Psalms and Canticles, alongside a revised New Testament. The “bishops” simultaneously approved a Spanish New Testament translation and modifications to the Roman Pontifical.
Theological Vandalism of Sacred Scripture
The very notion of nationalizing Holy Scripture through a “Catholic American Bible” constitutes sacrilegious particularism. As Pius XI declared in Quas Primas, Christ’s kingship extends universally: “His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end to peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it and gird it with justice and righteousness from henceforth and forever” (Is 9:7). The USCCB’s ethnocentric rebranding fractures the una sancta principle, reducing the eternal Word to cultural merchandise.
This translation continues the modernist mutilation begun with the New American Bible – a text condemned by traditional theologians for its naturalistic renderings that obscure Messianic prophecies and dogmatic truths. The adoption of “The Abbey Psalms and Canticles” compounds the offense, as its contemporary language destroys the sensus plenior preserved in the Gallican Psalter. St. Pius X’s condemnation in Lamentabili applies here: “Divine inspiration does not extend to the whole of Holy Scripture to such an extent that all and individual parts of it are protected from every error” (Proposition 11). By treating Scripture as malleable text rather than divinely revealed deposit, the USCCB operates as correctores Scripturae – Scripture correctors whom St. Jerome called “most audacious corruptors.”
Liturgical Destruction Through Vernacular Tyranny
The imposition of this translation for the lectionary and Liturgy of Hours completes the Protestantizing agenda initiated by the conciliar revolution. Pius XII warned in Mediator Dei that vernacularization risks “distorting the true and genuine meaning of the liturgy”. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 1399) forbade vernacular Bibles without hierarchical approval precisely to prevent doctrinal corruption. Yet these false shepherds accelerate the very abuses condemned by pre-conciliar popes.
The revised Roman Pontifical constitutes sacrilege against episcopal dignity. As the Council of Trent decreed (Session XXIII, Chapter IV), the Church’s rites constitute “a wall and a bulwark” against innovation. The “bishops'” approval before receiving Vatican confirmation exposes their protestant ecclesiology – treating Rome as rubber-stamp rather than supreme liturgic authority. Their actions fulfill Pius VI’s prophecy in Auctorem Fidei against synodal presumption: “The desire to restore the ancient discipline by recurring to the primitive Church… is a criminal insult to the wisdom of the Church’s lawgivers” (Proposition 78).
Usurpation of Divine Authority
The USCCB’s scriptural revisionism constitutes a direct assault on papal primacy. Leo XIII’s Providentissimus Deus reserved biblical translation authority to the Apostolic See: “It is the office of the pope to judge authoritatively… the true sense and interpretation of Scripture.” By arrogating this power, the USCCB manifests the conciliar sect’s foundational heresy – collegiality, condemned by Pius VI as “heretical, schismatic, and leading to schism” (Auctorem Fidei, Proposition 13).
Moreover, the very validity of these “bishops'” orders remains doubtful following Paul VI’s invalid ordination rites. As the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared in 1947, any substantial alteration to sacramental form renders the sacrament invalid. The post-conciliar rite’s elimination of “Accipe Spiritum Sanctum” and de-emphasis of sacrificial priesthood likely invalidates all post-1968 episcopal consecrations. Thus, these men lack jurisdiction to legislate on liturgical matters.
Omission of Doctrinal Fidelity
The article’s silence about doctrinal safeguards proves this translation’s heterodox foundations. Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritu mandated that translations adhere to the Vulgate’s “authentic interpretation” and the Church’s unanimous tradition. Yet the New American Bible’s track record includes:
- Omitting “full of grace” in Luke 1:28
- Translating “virgin” as “young woman” in Isaiah 7:14
- Reducing the Eucharist to “the bread that we break” in 1 Corinthians 10:16
The USCCB’s refusal to adopt the Confraternity Bible – the last orthodox English translation approved pre-Vatican II – exposes their modernist agenda. As St. Pius X warned in Pascendi, modernists treat doctrine as “the result of an evolution where a small germ… has been gradually developed by circumstances” (§26). This “development” now culminates in an Americanized Bible severed from Catholic Tradition.
Conclusion: Scripture as Weapon Against Itself
This translation project embodies the conciliar sect’s essence: using ecclesiastical structures to dismantle Catholic truth. The “Catholic American Bible” will become another tool for propagating the lex orandi, lex credendi of the new religion – a human-centered pseudo-Christianity where Revelation bows to cultural relevance. As Our Lord prophesied: “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive” (Jn 5:43). The USCCB’s bible serves precisely such counterfeit Christianity – American in name, apostate in substance, and diabolical in final cause.
Source:
‘Catholic American Bible’ gets green light from U.S. bishops (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 12.11.2025