A: Eileen, first I need to define what an Imprimatur is. "Imprimatur • Literally, 'let it be printed,' the imprimatur is required for the publication of certain religious or scriptural texts. Publication of catechisms, prayer books, and books about morals, Scripture, theology, Church history or canon law that will be used as textbooks are to receive the approval of the bishop or other competent ecclesiastical authority before being published."¹ Hand-in-hand with the Imprimatur is the Nihil Obstat. "Nihil Obstat • This Latin term, which literally means 'nothing obstructs,' refers to the approval granted by the officially appointed censor of books to a written work that requires the permission of Church authorities for publication. The nihil obstat precedes and is required for the imprimatur, which is the permission of the competent authority to publish it."² "2. In undertaking the office, the censor, laying aside any respect for persons, is to consider only the teaching of the Church concerning faith and morals as it is proposed by the ecclesiastical magisterium. 3. The censor's opinion must be given in writing; if it is favorable, the ordinary (bishop) in his own prudent judgement, is to grant the permission to publish, giving his own name and the time and place of the granting of the permission."³ The Council Fathers (Vatican II) remind us that in Scripture God speaks in human fashion. From this it follows that 'the interpreter of Scripture, if he is to ascertain what God has wished to communicate to us, should carefully search out the meaning which the sacred writers really had in mind. The Council further specified that the task of giving an authoritative interpretation of the Word of God, whether it is in written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone (my emphasis.)"⁴ "The signature of a bishop in your Bible assures you that opinions, expressed in footnotes and introductions, reflect what is generally accepted as sound doctrine in the Catholic tradition."⁵

So, when you read a bible make certain it is one with an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. This will insure that the cover-to-cover contents, including teaching footnotes and introductions explaining the scriptures, are accurate teachings approved by Holy Church. For example, The New American Bible - St. Joseph Edition says in The Book of Jonah that Jonah disobeyed the Lord so he was swallowed by a whale for three days before being disgorged and sent on his mission. In the introduction to the Book of Jonah, the censor tells us that this 'story' is a sublime lesson telling us that, "Jonah stands for a narrow and vindictive mentality, all too common of the Jews of that period".⁶ With the previous explanation in mind concerning the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat, we know that the introduction just quoted about the Book of Jonah is an approved and accepted teaching of the Church. In the situation of Jonah being swallowed by a whale, this is a 'story' used to teach about the mentality of the Jews at that time.

There are a number of different forms used to write various books of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. They are The Parable, The Allegory, The Beast Fable, The Short Story and the Historical Novel, The Problem Story and The Speech as a Literary Device. A basic explanation of these styles can be found on P.22 of The New American Bible - St. Joseph Edition that I have footnoted a few times in this Q&A. If you are like me and do not have the background to determine which literary form was used to write some part of the Bible you are reading, contact a scripture expert for your diocese and ask him. Once your question is answered you can quickly determine if what you are reading is a literal truth such as Jesus miraculously feeding the 5,000 or a story or Parable told to teach us a truth.

A King James Version of the bible will not have either an Imprimatur or Nihil Obstat as it has many translation errors and cannot be approved by the Catholic Church. I am not saying that a KJV of the bible is totally inaccurate as it does contain some truths.

Some areas of the Catholic Bible are to be accepted literally as written (again with an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstate). "Holy Mother Church has firmly and with absolute constancy held, and continues to hold, that the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation until the day He was taken up into heaven."⁷

If I have not adequately answered your question regarding Bible literal truths V. stories, please write back and I'll try again!

The second part of your question concerns this priest commenting that the Catechism has many things wrong with it. You do not say which Catechism he is referring to. There are many Catechisms bearing an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. I presume that you are referring to the Catechism of the Catholic Church published in 1994. This Catechism has a lengthy introduction by and is signed by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Need I say more for an Imprimatur? In 1998 a corrective document of 24 pages titled Modifications from the Editio Typica was printed. "The modifications are intended to bring the texts of the modern language editions (of the Catechism) into conformity with the Latin Text. This booklet contains the modifications to the English language text published in the United States in 1994 in trade editions and in 1995 in mass market editions."⁸ This booklet has 24 pages of corrections corresponding to numbered paragraphs in the original Catechism. If this priest (or anyone for that matter) makes a blanket statement concerning 'wrongs' in the Catechism, he has a duty to be very specific in particularly naming and describing these alleged wrongs. The receiver of such a statement can then go to his diocesan expert for clarification. Otherwise, a blanket statement that 'there are many wrongs' has very little value and I wouldn't 'hang my hat on that'. When I bought my modification booklet I took the time to go to my Catechism paragraph-by-paragraph and note the corrections.

Eileen, I hope that we have given you help in understanding more about how the Bible was written and what has been done concerning known errors in the Catechism. Feel free to print out this Q&A and give it to anyone it may help. If there is more that we can assist you with, please write again!