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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
THE Philippines may be the only
predominantly Roman Catholic country in Asia, but 60 percent of
Filipinos do not read the Bible—or even own one— according to a
survey by the Philippine Bible Society.
Alarmed by the situation, the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Episcopal
Commission on Biblical Apostolate has thought of a way to attract
the faithful, particularly the youth, to Bible reading through the
arguably most popular form of communication today—the mobile or
cellular phone.
Fr. Oscar Alunday, the Episcopal commission’s
executive secretary, on Tuesday said the CBCP has launched a
project, “Bible Anime,” which would enable them to supply Sunday
readings to every phone user in a fast and affordable format.
“Now, Christians seeking a quick spiritual
boost will be able to access Bible readings in their mobile phones
as part of a drive to popularize the Scriptures,” he said.
Alunday expressed confidence that the multimedia
messaging service (MMS) project will appeal to more young people.
“It’s a concept of networking or being the
partners of all the young people in the country using mobile
phones,” he said.
The Philippines has an estimated population of
88 million, 90 percent of which or 80 million are Catholics. In
2006, a survey by the Philippine Bible Society revealed that 60
percent of Filipinos do not read or own a Bible.
“It’s very alarming indeed, but at the same
time I look at it as an opportunity to look for these young people
who are hungry for the Word of God,” Alunday said.
By sending “BIBLIYA ON” to 286, subscribers
could get immediately the Sunday Bible readings plus animations. As
of now, the service is only available for Smart users and costs P5
per download.
Alunday said the service would soon be available
from other mobile-phone companies.
The “Bible Anime” project was also made in
coordination with Bible society and Enzima International Inc., which
had volunteered to do the animation.
Philippine Bible Society, a non-profit and
inter-confessional organization, last year created the e-Bible, an
electronic version of the Bible translated to seven Philippine
languages.
It said this was the group’s way of making the
Scriptures relevant amid widespread relativism, secularism and
materialis—a global reality that worries no less than Pope
Benedict XVI.
The Bible society added that the idea was born
over “concerns that the Scriptures will be left behind in world
that is moving so rapidly.”
“If we are truly to engage our present society
in the Word of God, we have to do it through all positive media that
reach them, and one of these is, of course, the computer,” it
said.
The e-Bible, which comes in Tagalog, Cebuano,
Bicol, Pangasinan, Pampango, Samarenyo and Hiligaynon, is
available in compact disc (CD) format at the Bible society office on
United Nations Avenue in Ermita, Manila
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