Nairobi — Nearly 40 years after the Second Vatican Council recommended that the Bible be made accessible to all Christians, there is not yet enough awareness of the central role of the Holy Scriptures in the lives of many African Catholics, the Secretary-General of the worldwide Catholic Biblical Federation (CBF) says.

"A lot of pastoral work remains to be done not simply to put the Bible in the hands of Christians but also to help them to understand it as being relevant to their daily experiences," Alexander Schweitzer told CISA on Thursday February 19, 2004.

Mr Schweitzer is in Nairobi to attend the bi-annual meeting of CBF regional coordinators to review the working of the Germany-based organization and to discuss current issues on the biblical apostolate.

One of the issues the CBF coordinators discussed was the rise of Christian fundamentalism and the threat it poses to evangelisation in Africa.

"Fundamentalism often grows out of a feeling that one's truth is being questioned," .Mr Schweitzer said, adding that the problem was propagated by evangelical sects and even mainstream churches that failed to see evangelisation as dialogue.

"Biblical fundamentalism flourishes where the Bible is not seen as a testimony of the faith of the people of God for over three thousand years, but as a collection of ready-made truths."

The CBF was founded in 1969 to promote the translation, production and distribution of the Bible world-wide. It has 300 member-organizations in 120 countries.