Hasn't the Catholic Church kept people from reading the Bible themselves?

🔥The question: “I hear Catholics put tradition ahead of the Bible and keep people from reading it.”

🛡️The Church's answer: “Catholicism has always banned all Bible reading by lay people” is far too broad. Before printing, books were expensive and illiteracy was high, and many people met Scripture through the liturgy, preaching, and sacred images. But in some periods and regions of intense religious conflict, Church authorities really did restrict and punish the possession or reading of unapproved translations and private interpretation. Even where the reason was to prevent error and division, that does not make coercion and excessive control legitimate, and we have to admit the failure to help people gain access to Scripture as we should have. Today the Church proclaims Scripture generously in the liturgy and, following the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, clearly urges all the faithful to read and pray the Bible often, with a suitable translation and explanation.

🧐If they press further: “Why is the Church's explanation needed?” — Not to block private reading, but because Scripture arose and was handed on within the faith of the Church, and because the memory and help of the community keep us from bending it to our own taste.

✨In one sentence: “The Catholic Church urges every believer to read and pray the Bible often. Private reading and the community's interpretation help each other.”