Where do you get this nonsense? The Catholic Church does not teach that the laity cannot read and interpret the Bible for themselves. In fact they are encouraged to read it at least 15 minutes a day to gain and indulgence. It is in the forward of most if not all Catholic Bibles under the heading of the Preces et Pia Opera from Pope Leo XIII.
This particular nonsense comes from the Catholic Catechism and various Church councils.
Provide a source if this is so (which I know it is not). You cannot simply spread lies and not expect to be called on them.
Yes Catholics can now read the Bible as much as they want, as long as they don't question any doctrine taught by the Roman Catholic magisterium - regardless of any inconsistency with the Bible. The Roman magisterium refuses to be held accountable and to be examined in the light of God's Word.
More nonsense. The Church only holds that Catholic's must accept those items that have been declared dogma by Councils or Ex Cathedra statements of the Pope as those are protected from error by the Holy Spirit as promised with the same scriptures you hold to be inerrant. You understanding of the Catholic position on this issue is seriously flawed.
The Roman Church has had a long history of withholding the Bible from the common people.
A long version of history which you cannot support from an unbiased secular source. It exists only in the minds of prejudice Protestants.
One effective way was to give the Bible in Latin, an unknown tongue to the majority.
Do you know how ignorant that sounds? Do you realize that the Latin Bible is called the vulgate - because latin for common (as in the common people) is vulgate - where we get the word vulgar from. The Bible was translated into Latin specifically so the common man would have access to it, not to keep it from him.
The view that Latin was unaccessible is a view that can only be held by English speaking people who have a prejudiced ethnocentric view of the world. The Catholic Church had already translated the Bible into over 27 languages when the issue of an English translation finally came up. But at the time the first flawed Protestant English versions were being translated, the English language was still in flux (anyone who has read an original copy of the Geneva Bible can confirm this). England was a young country at the time and its culture and language was still in the developmental stages.
Additionally, there were few of the common man, at that time, who could read and write. And the few who could read and write were well educated so they also could read and write in Latin and Greek; so there was no real urgency for an English translation. Thus the Church waited about 100 years before commencing the Douay Rheims translation. That is why there are some English versions that preceed the Catholic one (though not by much and they are no longer in use).
For centuries it was a sin to possess and read the Bible in one's own native language.
This is a not true.
The Council of Toulouse (1229) forbade the laity to read the vernacular translations of the Bible.
Provide a quote and reference for this so we can see what the Council really said (if you can) because I am sure that is a misrepresentation of what they said. You will see that this was a local Council and the ban was alocal one to counteract the heresy of the Albigensians.
Various Bible translations was included in the Index of Forbidden Books (Index Librorum Prohibitorum), first published in 1559.
These versions were placed there because of the commentaries placed in the borders which contained heretical teachings.
Pope Pius IV instructed bishops to refuse permission to lay persons to read even Catholic versions of Scripture unless their confessors or parish priests judged that such reading was likely to prove beneficial.
Again I challenge you to provide a quote and a verifiable reference so people can check out these prejudiced claims of yours.
It was Protestants like John Wycliff, William Tyndale and Martin Luther who first gave the Bible in the common language of the people, at the same time when the Roman authorities were busy burning every copy of the Bible they could lay their hands on.
No Wycliff and Tyndale were among the first to translate the scriptures into English, the fact that you consider this the langiuage of the people just reveals more of the prejudice you are becoming well known for. As I have said earlier there were many other languages of the common people that the Bible had already been translated into by the Catholic Church. Luther translated the Bible into German and the Catholic Church had produced a german translation long before Luthers and it included all of the books, they didn't remove the book of James and most or Revelation as Luther did. And you wonder why the Catholic Church burned some Bible translations.
Today many Catholics have their personal copy of the Bible at home and many are reading the Bible for themselves. But interpretation is not for the laity, rather they must accept the Church's interpretation without question. There can be no private interpretation.
'The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God...has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone...This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome" (Catechism, paragraph 85).
This does not say that the average Catholic cannot interpret scripture for themselves. It says that if you find your interpretation to be contrary to that of the Church you must seek to understand the Church's teachings and accept them or leave the Church. The same position you would be in at any Protestant Church. If you do not share the doctrine of the Church you are de facto not a member of the Church.
The type of error you express in your interpretation that preceeds the quote from the Catechism is common among those who only have a cursory familiarity and understanding of the Catholic Church's teachings. I suggest that before you go on spreading more misunderstandings you find out alot more about the Church from reputable sources.
