A new Bible will hit bookshelves in January. But unlike hundreds of others available, illustrations in this Bible will include New Testament images portraying Jesus as an African-American.
This is just one way The African-American Youth Bible, which contains commentaries, footnotes and art created by black Americans, hopes to evangelize and educate young black Catholics.
The Bible mimics the format of the successful The Catholic Youth Bible, published by St. Mary’s Press. The idea began in 2009, when St. Mary’s Press president John Vitek and Bishop John Ricard, president of the National Black Catholic Congress, met to discuss how they could help young African-Americans.
“We wanted to help serve a population of kids that no one is paying attention to, in particular, African-American Catholics,” Vitek told NCR. “I looked around and saw none of the other publishers paying any attention to them.”
For Ricard and Vitek, helping black youths meant creating a Bible. But a task that big did not come easily.
Source: National Catholic Reporter | Nicholas Sciarappa
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