From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Apr 26: The first Asian Edition of the biography of the new Pope, titled "Francis, Pope of a New World,” published by the leading Bangalore-based publishing house of Asian Trading Corporation (ATC), was released by Cardinal Oswald Gracias in Bangalore on Thursday evening.
Cardinal Gracias, who is the Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), released the low-cost edition of the biography of Pope Francis on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Holy Ghost Church, at the Redemptorists Seminary Grounds, Richards Town, Bangalore.
Cardinal Gracias, who is also the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), which represents the Latin Rite, was among the participants in the Conclave that elected Pope Francis. He is also one of the 8 Cardinals recently chosen to advise the Pope.
Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly and Dr Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore released "The Holy Bible (Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition)," a recent revision of an acclaimed Bible translation in English.
The author of the first biography of Pope Francis is Vatican insider, Andrea Tornielli, who is acclaimed as the best-sourced, most accurate and one of the most knowledgeable reporters among the unique band of 'Vaticanisti,' who travel with the Pope.
The low-cost Asian edition of the biography in English, "Francis, Pope of a New World" (Ignatius Press / ATC Publications, Rs. 150/-), is a fascinating, definitive and complete biography on Pope Francis. It provides the keys to understanding the man who was a surprise choice, even a revolutionary choice for Pope.
The biography explains why the cardinal electors of the Catholic Church set aside political and diplomatic calculations to elect a pope to lead the renewal and purification of the worldwide Church of our time. In addition, there is an invaluable background on Pope Benedict's resignation and the process of electing Pope Francis.
The biography seeks to answer questions like:
What led to the election of the first Latin American, first Jesuit pope?
What is the background against which his first papal acts find their context?
What was his family life like and how did his family view his decision to become a priest?
How did Jorge Bergoglio minister as a Jesuit priest and as an archbishop in violent, horrible times?
The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Versionn – Second Catholic Edition (RSV-SCE), which was released along with the biography on Pope Francis is widely regarded as one of the most accurate translations into modern English from the biblical languages, the Revised Standard Version or the RSV became widely established as the English version of choice even in Catholic circles through its Catholic edition approved in 1966.
It was this translation that was adopted in the English Lectionary - the book of readings used in the Liturgy - in India. With rapid changes in the English language in the last few decades, there was a felt need for an updating of some of the now archaic language (e.g., "thees," "thous", etc.), into their present-day equivalents.
The revision undertaken was further enhanced to conform to the 2001 Vatican Instruction, Liturgiam Authenticam which governs the translation of liturgical books including the Lectionary. The result is the Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition or the RSV-SCE which in April 2012 was approved by Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) as the Bible version for use in the liturgy in India.
The ATC Publications was started in 1946 as a bookseller and publisher. ATC has been at the forefront of efforts to publish Christian Literature, including reprints of foreign editions, and make them available to local clergy, religious and laity at concessional rates and has over 1000 titles to its credit and a wide distribution network in India/Asia that has seen the distribution of over 25 million copies.
In 2010, ATC became the first lay organisation to publish a Catholic Bible in Asia - Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (RSV-CE). The same year, at the express wish of His Holiness, now Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI, ATC was chosen as the Pope's publisher in Asia for "The Spirit of Liturgy" and later went on to publish Asian editions of the Pope's interview "Light of the World" and "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week", the sequel to the Pope's earlier book "Jesus of Nazareth.”
Consistent with its longstanding mission of serving the Church through its literature outreach, ATC has taken up the mission to make affordable editions of the newly released biography of Pope Francis and The Holy Bible (RSV-SCE) available in Asia. Other recently published titles of interest include YOUCAT - the catechism of the World Youth Day, YOUCAT T-Shirts, DIVINITY - a fascinating family board game based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
ATC is one of the largest distributors for several publishers worldwide with 5 retail outlets in the city - ATC-St. Anthony's Friary Church–Madivala (T: 080-41116837), ATC-DVK Central Library, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (T: 9844019444), ATC-Paalanaa Bhavana, #5 Nandidurg Road, Benson Town (T: 9844067444), ATC-Holy Redeemer Church, Hennur Road, Kalyan Nagar (T:080-65341884), ATC-Da Costa Layout, St. Mary's Town (T: 080-25487444).