THE ASSISTANT director for campus ministry of the University has been tapped by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Youth (CBCP-EYC) to help translate the Bible in the language of the youth.
UST’s Richard Pazcoguin, Clarizza Sagmit and Llen Hugh Tadeo of Cubao diocese, and Del Cabanog of the Parañaque diocese were endorsed by CBCP-EYC to complete the “Pinoy version” project of the Philippine Bible Society (PBS).
“PBS believes that translating the Word of God into the language that young people understand will create more attention and will attract the youths to read it. They will understand the meaning that their minds have the capacity to comprehend,” said Fr. Conegondo Garganta, executive secretary of the CBCP- EYC.
Pazcoguin said language is important for the youth to understand the Bible more.
“[PBS] wants somebody who has the capacity of speaking the Tagalog of Manila, so that the Bible will appear to young readers as the book that speaks to them, that speaks their popular language.”
The four diocesan youth leaders will undergo training workshops on Bible translation.
Reaching the youth
The translation does not aim to reach only Catholic youth in Metro Manila, but all Filipino youth, Pazcoguin said.
“It’s a combined effort of young translators coming from the different Bible Churches. We need to understand that the universal character of the Bible is intended for everybody,” he said.
The project is intended to raise the interest of young people who may be afraid to read the Bible because of its formality and depth.
The Pinoy Version project was started in 2007. The translators have started the translation of some books of the Bible, including the Gospel of Mark and the Epistle to the Galatians.
PBS decided to translate other books of the Bible in different versions so that many readers can understand it. GRACELYN A. SIMON
