H.E. Most. Rev. Sylvester Carmel Magro, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Salde, Apostolic Vicar of Benghazi, Libya, has taken part in the proceedings of the Synod of Bishops, held in Rome, which discussed the theme of the Word of God in the Church today.

The following are the words which Bishop Magro addressed in the Plenary Session of the Synod:
“Many of the faithful are unaware of the role of the Church in the formation of the Canon of the Scriptures. They are conscious of the importance which the Church accords to the Word of God, but fail to appreciate the role of the Magisterium in identifying the “canon” of the Holy Books. They do not realize that ultimately it was the Church who authenticated the Bible. In actual fact the Bible presupposes the Church and depends on the Church for its own authentication … The Church precedes the Scriptures.

Therefore, it should be made clear to the People of God that ultimately there had to be “some authority” capable of determining which books had to be considered authentic, or divinely inspired and so be included in the official list or “canon” of the New Testament in particular, while excluding the rest as “apocrypha”, that is lacking divine inspiration. It was the Church Authority which actually authenticated the books which today we believe as making part of our Bible.

This process of identification lasted almost five centuries. The Church did this after long investigations and decided upon it in local and regional councils during which the matter was exhaustively studied. The complete Christian “canon” or list of the New Testament Scriptures, was attested to by St. Athanasius in 367 A.D., but accepted universally only with the Synod of Rome in 380 and the councils of Hippo and Carthage (A D. 417).

“It is the Church which came before the Scriptures; the Church that produced the Scriptures with divine assistance, and that preserved their integrity through the threats of persecution and heresy – it is the Church that gathered the Scriptures together in a book – a book that sustains all who call themselves Christian” (Scott Hahn).”