In memoriam Dom Bernard Orchard OSB

							CATHOLIC BIBLICAL FEDERATION
General Secreteriat




                        Obituary for Dom Bernard Orchard, osb (1910–2006)


Dom Bernard Orchard, a Benedictine monk, schoolmaster and biblical scholar who died on November
28, 2006 at Ealing Abbey, England, served the Catholic Biblical Federation as its second General
Secretary .

Long before the 2nd Vatican Council Dom Orchard was engaged in historical-critical Bible studies. He
travelled extensively the countries of the Bible and he was initiator and editor of the first single-volume
Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture in English. This commentary was published in 1953 and was
considered for many years one of the most important reference books for Catholic biblical studies in
English-speaking countries. From 1952 Dom Orchard was actively engaged as co-editor of the
Catholic edition of the Revised Standard Version which was published in English in 1966, the first
which Catholics and Protestants could share. And last, but not least, Dom Orchard’s name is
associated with the “Two-Gospel Hypothesis” claiming that the Gospel of Matthew was the first to be
written. The fact that he was also the man to call the Catholic Biblical Association to life in Great
Britain goes to schow that not only was he committed to biblical studies but not less to the biblical
pastoral ministry.

As second General Secretary of the Catholic Biblical Federation (then named World Catholic
Federation for the Biblical Apostolate) Dom Orchard was one of the mainstays at CBF’s developing
stage between 1970 and 1972. Shortly after its founding in 1969 the CBF was about to establish its
position in the Church; this was a period of search – the search for members and for an establishment
of viable administrative structures, the search for suitable permanent headquarters (by that time the
CBF General Secretariat was based in Rome) and, of course, the search for dependable financial
income. Under these circumstances Dom Orchard’s biblical and organizational talents proved
themselves a great bonus, not forgetting the pioneer spirit which accompanied him throughout his life.
The Catholic Biblical Federation received numerous dynamic impulses for its further development
resulting from the first biblical pastoral seminar held at Rocca di Papa in 1971 which was organized by
Dom Orchard and which saw a gathering of all the main personalities associated with the biblical
apostolate at the time, and from its first Plenary Assembly held in Vienna in 1972.

Although his service as General Secretary was limited to this short period, partially because of the
many difficulties of these early years but also due to the change of headquarters from Rome to
Stuttgart in 1973, Dom Orchard succeeded in setting many wheels in motion with his endeavours in
the cause of the Federation. From a handful of members mainly in European countries the
Federation’s membership has gone from strength to strength, meanwhile numbering 320 institutions in
127 countries around the globe – a truly worldwide Church organization. Dom Orchard’s passing offers
us the opportunity to look back in great gratitude, and to remember that many of the seeds of the fruits
we now harvest were sown by our esteemed predecessors.

The Catholic Biblical Federation will hold the memory of its second General Secretary Dom Bernard
Orchard, osb in honour. May the Lord God grant him eternal life. R.I.P.


Alexander M. Schweitzer
CBF General Secretary