‍The Catholic Church forbade ordinary people to read the Bible

  Gary Hoge  ·  October 17, 2026

‍It’s a stereotype that Protestants are more avid Bible readers than Catholics, and there’s probably some truth to it. But is that because the Catholic Church discourages Bible reading? Not at all. Quite the opposite, actually. This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about it:

‍The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.¹

‍But what about the past? Isn’t it true that Catholics in the past weren’t allowed to read the Bible? Not exactly. The Catholic Church never imposed a universal prohibition against reading Scripture. It did, however, at various times restrict the reading of certain vernacular translations. After the Protestant Reformation, for example, rules issued under Pope Pius IV in 1564 required Catholics to obtain ecclesiastical permission to read vernacular Bibles. The concern was not with reading Scripture itself, but with translations and interpretations the Church considered erroneous or harmful.

‍The concern was not simply that Scripture had been translated into the language of ordinary people. In the religious controversies surrounding the Reformation, translations could also contain disputed renderings, prefaces, marginal notes, and commentary promoting doctrines the Catholic Church regarded as erroneous. Church authorities therefore sought to control which editions Catholics read.

‍The Church apparently thought that only the Latin Vulgate was completely trustworthy, and its reading was encouraged. The Church sometimes restricted access to particular translations or required permission to read vernacular Bibles; that is not the same thing as teaching that lay Catholics should not read Scripture.

‍St. John Chrysostom (344/354-407 AD), Doctor of the Church, wrote,

‍This is what has ruined everything, your thinking that the reading of scripture is for monks only, when you need it more than they do. Those who are placed in the world, and who receive wounds every day have the most need of medicine. So, far worse even than not reading the scriptures is the idea that they are superfluous. Such things were invented by the devil.²

‍Pope St. Gregory I (died 604 AD) wrote,

‍The Emperor of heaven, the Lord of men and of angels, has sent you His epistles for your life’s advantage – and yet you neglect to read them eagerly. Study them, I beg you, and meditate daily on the words of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God, that you may sigh more eagerly for things eternal, that your soul may be kindled with greater longings for heavenly joys.³

‍St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153 AD), Father and Doctor of the Church, wrote,

‍The person who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired Word, knowing that there, he is certain to find the One for whom he thirsts.⁴

‍Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914 AD) wrote,

‍Nothing would please us more than to see our beloved children form the habit of reading the Gospels – not merely from time to time, but every day.

‍Today, the Church is so eager to encourage us to read the Bible that it offers a plenary indulgence just for reading the Bible for a half hour.⁵ Also, the number one religious podcast is a Catholic priest, Fr. Mike Schmitz, reading through the Bible in a year.⁶

‍It would seem, then, that Catholics have no excuse for not being every bit as devoted to Scripture reading as some of their Protestant brethren are.

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^‍1 Catechism of the Catholic Church, (Rome: Urbi et Orbi, 1994), para. 133.

^‍2 St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Matthew 2:5.

^‍3 Pope St. Gregory I, Letters, 5, 46.

^‍4 St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Sermon 23:3.

^‍5 https://www.catholic.com/qa/can-i-receive-a-plenary-indulgence-for-reading-the-bible

^‍6 https://chartable.com/charts/itunes/us-religion-spirituality-podcasts