Help the Church in Need: The Children’s Bible and its 45 years of circulation

Within the framework of the first World Children’s Day, on May 25 and 26, the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) highlighted the great importance of his Children’s Bible to support the evangelizing work of the Catholic Church. Since 1979 to date, 51 million copies have been printed, in almost 200 languages.

This version of the Bible was published in the International Year of the Child in 1979, after being presented to the third General Episcopal Conference of Latin America held in Puebla (Mexico). It has been translated into exactly 194 languages ​​and dialects (including Assyrian, the closest living language to the one spoken by Jesus).

ACN collected testimonies of faith around the world, which are proof of the powerful effect that the Word of God has on people, especially on millions of children who—over 45 years—have learned to pray thanks to the ACN Bible. , which is titled “God speaks to his children.”

One of these cases is that of the Cuban priest Rolando Montes de Oca, who claims to have met Jesus Christ—in the midst of the complicated context of the island—thanks to the Child’s Bible, which he carried with him even when he entered the seminary.

“I was still little, but I will never forget when our priest came and gave me the Children’s Bible. With this Bible I learned about the Lord and about the history of salvation, and thanks to it I fell in love with God. “This God that I fell in love with called me to the priesthood,” said the priest, according to ACN.

The pontifical foundation specified that, in many cases around the world, the Children’s Bible is the only book that children can get to know. Another priest, the Italian missionary Henrique Uggé, highlighted that during his pastoral mission in the Brazilian Amazon he has been able to confirm the importance of “hearing, reading and meditating on the Word of God in our own language and in our own cultural and historical context.”

In many cases, ACN explains, the Children’s Bible is the only book written in a given language. This allows the little ones to relate “with their faith, in the same language they speak with their parents and communities.”

In Kenya, however, most children only speak Turkana. Despite the difficulties, the missionaries have successfully used the Children’s Bible to evangelize the children of the area.

“Because it has pictures, they can see and look through the book, touch it and feel it, and even hear the Word. This is one of the things that has helped us catechize in the area,” says Lilian Omari, from the Missionary Community of San Pablo Apóstol.

“We are very grateful to all the benefactors who have supported this project, making it possible for it to be translated into different languages,” he adds.

In other places, such as Mexico and Brazil, the pontifical foundation highlights that its Children’s Bible has helped people have “access to the Word of God in their own language”, something that, without a doubt, helps “to generate confidence and show that Christianity is not a foreign imposition,” explains ACN.

A catechist in South Sudan, Alfred Ajuong Mangui, said that the book helps children “grow in respect” and, from there, “they will develop other skills and a way of seeing life.”

“The Children’s Bible is one of ACN’s oldest projects. With 194 languages ​​already in circulation, the foundation continues to work so that more children learn how much God loves them and, in turn, learn to love Him,” concluded the pontifical foundation.