A Voice Crying Out in the Desert

Father Barnabas M. Ahern, CP (1915-1995) did much to promote biblical scholarship among the American hierarchy. He is credited with the movement among American Catholics to claim the Bible as their own. This book is dedicated to Father Ahern, whose career as a biblical scholar culminated at Vatican II, where he connected old and new, seeing conciliar development growing out of Scripture and Church teaching. He was intensely involved in post-conciliar implementation with the secretariats in Rome; his contribution toward the worldwide acceptance of conciliar teaching was significant. The editors knew Father Ahern as a confrere in the Passionist community in Chicago. They invited others who were also influenced by his work as the leading American biblical scholar in the 1950s and 60s to contribute essays. The contributors'reflections advance the contemporary scholarship that he so skillfully initiated decades ago. Priests, religious and laity who are interested in the Bible and Church ministry, especially in the days leading up to Vatican II, should be interested in the insights into the legacy of the man whose ministry in scriptural studies encouraged Catholics to embrace the Bible.