Cebuano Gospels off the press

After 12  years, a complete  Cebuano translation of the four  Gospels of the Holy Bible is officially out.

The work ”Ang Ebanghelyo “(The Gospel), by nine Bible scholars, including Fr. Carmelo Diola, was launched last night in the Cebu Cathedral museum in the presence of  Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Four Gospels of sacred scripture were painstakingly translated from the original Greek text by a  group called  the San Pedro Calungsod Bible Animators.

Diola called the book  a “12-year  labor of love” that  started in Rome where  members were studying in the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

They began the laborious but enriching task of translating  the Gospels  of Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in  their  native tongue.

Cardinal Vidal, in his remarks,  said the new translation of the Gospels was  “very beautiful.”

“The translation is  clearer. I’m happy that we launch it today. We can distribute it already,” he said.

A copy will  be given to Pope Benedict XVI, said Diola

Vidal said he brought  a copy of the book with him to Rome for the Oct. 21 canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod, hoping to hand it to the Pope but didn’t have an opportunity.

He left   the book at the Pontifio Collegio Filippino, the residence of of Filipino priests studying in Rome.

The book is recommended for  personal study and devotion as well as bible study and group sharing, said Diola.

“We have incorporated the latest spelling, accent, gramatical syntactical rules of the Academian Bisaya,” said   Diola,  one of  nine exegists who translated the text from the Greek language.

Sr. Miriam Alejandrino, OSB, was one of  three original  project members  along with Diola and Fr. Bill Larousse,  before the group  grew to nine.

“There were two factors that motivated us: First was our desire to share the richness of God’s word as expressed in our mother tongue, Cebuano; and secondly the realization that the existing Cebuano versions are deficient in terms of nuances,” she wrote.

(See full text in Sofia Logarta’s column “She Voices” in Opinion , page 13).

Diola last night explained that existing Cebuano translations of the Gospels were based on English translations, which partly explains the lack of precision or sensitivity in capturing the full meaning of the Scriptures.

So the group worked based on the original Greek text.

The Cebuano book  has  footnotes and incorporates the grammatical, spelling, and accent rules of the Akademyang Bisaya.

In his message during yesterday’s book launching, Cardinal Vidal said he was happy to have helped the project along.

“The word of God, my friends, is not just the one who is spoken about. He is the one who speaks. We must enter into a living and interactive relationship with the Lord,” Vidal said during the launching held at the Cebu Cathedral Museum garden.

“I envy you my dear Bible scholars for your study is a growing intimacy with the Lord. Your work itself is your reward. It should make you grow in your relationship with the Lord,” he said.

Vidal congratulated the group for seeing the project to the end, despite limitations of funding and their other work commitments.

“No matter how long it took, what is important is that you completed it and you completed it well. Your work has always been guided by the Holy Spirit,” he added.

Cebu Archbishop  Palma, who presided over a 5:30 Mass before the launching, expressed joy  over the work which was carried out under  the direction of a board of bishops of the Visayas and Mindanao.

“The words and actions of Jesus are best known through the written word. We will certainly encourage the use of what is most expressive of our own language and mindset,” he said.

Fr. Diola said the idea of translating the Bible from Greek to Cebuano began when Fr. James Wetnam, an American teacher who handled a Greek language subject, challenged them to translate God’s word to Cebuano.

“Once or twice a year, we would meet  with the seven other exegists. We  would debate. It was a very passionate debate,” he said.

Diola said they then asked lay people to read the Cebuano  translation to find out whether they understood it  or not.

“We consulted language experts from Akademyang  Bisaya and the Maryknoll  School of Culture and Languages,” he said.

Diola said he along with three others,  did the proofreading 10 hours a day over  16  straight days.

“I’m absolute happy and so are my fellow exegists. The scripture is the word of God, ‘it is a double-edged sword. It cuts through the bone and marrows, it reavels the heat’ as the book of Hebrews says,” he said.

The book was  sold for P100 during yesterday’s launch. A limited commemorative  edition of the book is sold at P3,000.

Starting today, copies can be purchased for P150 at the Dilaab Foundation  Office in the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in Mabolo, Cebu City. Diola,  overall coordinating steward of the Dilaab Foundation, said proceeds will be used  to sustain their scholarly work.