Why doesn’t the Catholic Church emphasize reading the Bible?
This is a very common misconception. Many non-Catholics believe that the Catholic Church does not value the scriptures but the opposite is the case. Catholics draw every daily readings and meditation from the Scriptures. Responsorial Psalms are also directly from the Bible. Even the prayers and rubrics are from the bible too.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
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. (CCC 133)
The Church values the study of the scriptures so much she even grants indulgences for it. The Handbook of Indulgences explains,
“A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read Sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is for at least one-half hour” (p. 80).
