The Pontifical Biblical Commission () is a

pontifical commission A pontifical commission () is a committee of Catholic experts convened by the Pope for a specific purpose. The following is a list of commissions, the dates they began and the pope who established. Current commissions # Pontifical Commissi ...

established within the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Since 1988, it has been closely attached to the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

, whose prefect heads the Commission. In March 2022,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

reaffirmed that relationship with his apostolic constitution ''

Praedicate evangelium ( English: ''Preach the gospel'') is an apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia; it was published and promulgated on 19 March 2022 by Pope Francis, and the document took effect on 5 June 2022. The apostolic constitution was develope ...

'', effective 5 June 2022, even as it changed the Congregation's name to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

1901–1971

The Pontifical Biblical Commission was established as a committee of

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, aided by

consultor A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e., a counselor. In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions: *in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by ...

s, who met in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of Sacred Scripture. This function was outlined in the

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

Providentissimus Deus ''Providentissimus Deus'', "On the Study of Holy Scripture", was an encyclical letter issued by Pope Leo XIII on 18 November 1893. In it, he reviewed the history of Bible study from the time of the Church Fathers to the present, spoke against th ...

''. The first appointments to the commission were in August, 1901, but it was not formally established by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

until October 30, 1902, with the

Apostolic Letter Apostolic letter (Latin: ''littera apostolica'') may refer to: * New Testament epistles, which are: ** the Pauline epistles ** the Epistle to the Hebrews ** the catholic epistles * an ecclesiastical letter by the pope or in his name See also * ...

''Vigilantiae Studiique''. The first commission was composed of three cardinals and 12

s. The consultors met twice a month, with secretaries present. The secretaries reported to the cardinals on the commission, who met on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. The cardinals proposed questions for the consultors to consider and voted on the answers received from the consultors. The cardinals could send questions back to the consultors for further study, commission a single consultor to investigate a matter more deeply, or sanction or modifying the study results. If a decision was reached, the secretaries reported to the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, who could send the matter back for further study, or ratify the results of the study. The duties of the commission were: # to protect and defend the integrity of the Catholic Faith in Biblical matters # to further the progress of exposition of the Sacred Books, taking account of all recent discoveries # to decide controversies on grave questions which might arise among Catholic scholars # to give answers to Catholics throughout the world who may consult the commission # to see that the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

was properly furnished with

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

and necessary books # to publish studies on Scripture as occasion might demand. The commission was granted the power to grant pontifical

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

s in biblical studies by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

's Apostolic Letter '' Scripturae sanctae'' of February 23, 1904.

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

, by the

Motu Proprio In law, (Latin for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on h ...

'' Bibliorum scientia'' of April 27, 1924, and the

Apostolic Constitution An apostolic constitution () is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the Pope.New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 57, footnote 36. By their nature, apostolic constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use ...

Deus scientiarum Dominus ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for 'god' or 'deity'. Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ('divine') are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', 'celestial' or 'shining', from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief g ...

'' of May 24, 1931, clarified that such degrees were equivalent in status to those of the

Pontifical Universities A pontifical university or athenaeum is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and canon law (Catholic Church), Canon Law) and at least o ...

1971–88

On June 27, 1971,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

issued the

motu proprio In law, (Latin for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on h ...

Sedula Cura A community tax certificate ( Filipino: ''sertípiko ng buwís pampámayanan'') or ''sédula'' (from Spanish ''cédula''), sometimes confused as residence certificate, is a legal identity document in the Philippines. Issued by cities and municip ...

'' ("On New Laws Regulating the Pontifical Biblical Commission"), restructuring the commission and placing it under the

Since 1988

On 28 June 1988,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's Apostolic Constitution '' Pastor Bonus'' confirmed the commission's relationship to the

, with the prefect of the

the ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. The Commission has its own secretary, who to date has been a professor of the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

. Since 9 March 2021 the secretary has been

Núria Calduch Núria Calduch i Benages (also Calduch-Benages, born 26 March 1957) is a Spanish nun, biblical scholar and Roman Curia official. She is a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and specialises in the wisdom books of the Old Testament. ...

, the first female secretary. The members are Catholic biblical scholars proposed by the Bishops' Conferences. In 2014

appointed women to the commission for the first time, including Mary Healy.

Current members

As of 2025 * President: Cardinal

Víctor Manuel Fernández Víctor Manuel "Tucho" Fernández (born 18 July 1962) is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church and a theologian. He is currently the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. He served as rector of the Pontifical Catholic Univ ...

, (

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the

, since July 1, 2023) * Secretary: Sr. Núria Calduch Benages M.N., since March 9, 2021 * Fr. Paul Béré, S.J., since 2020 fr">:fr:Paul_Béré">fr* Sr. Nuria Calduch Benages M.N., since 2014 * Federico Giuntoli, since 2020 * Fr. Marcin Kowalski, since 2020 pl">:pl:Marcin_Kowalski_(biblista)">pl* Fr. Philippe Lefebvre, O.P., since 2020 fr">:fr:Philippe_Lefebvre_(bibliste)">fr* Bénédicte Lemmelijn, since 2020 nl">:nl:Bénédicte_Lemmelijn">nl* Maria Armida Nicolaci, since 2020 * Fr. Henry Pattarumadathil, S.J., since 2020 * Fr. Blazej Štrba, since 2020 * Knut Backhaus, since 2014 de">:de:Knut_Backhaus">de* Fr. Eduardo Córdova González, since 2014 * Bruna Costacurta, since 2014 it">:it:Bruna_Costacurta">it* Msgr. Pierre Debergé, since 2014 fr">:fr:Pierre_Debergé">fr* Fr. Luís Henrique Eloy e Silva, since 2014 * Fr. Adrian Graffy, since 2014 * Mary Healy, since 2014 * Fr. Hugo Orlando Martínez Aldana, since 2014 * Bp. Levente Balázs Martos, since 2014 de">:de:Levente_Balázs_Martos">de* Fr. Jean-Bosco Matand Bulembat, since 2014 The Technical Secretary is Fr. Alessandro Belano, F.D.P.

Notes

External links

Pontifical Biblical Commission website
{{Authority control 1902 establishments in Italy Catholic organizations established in the 20th century Catholic theology and doctrine Christian organizations established in 1902 Pontifical commissions