At the Service of the Bible: A Life Dedicated to the Word of God

Last 8 December, Sister Romi Auth a Daughter of Saint Paul who was a dynamic apostle of the Word, left us at the age of 78. Returning to Brazil after her licentiate in Biblical Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, she became part of the house of Belo Horizonte, also called “House of the Word”, a house dedicated to the “Service of Biblical Animation” (SAB). In this house he spent the rest of his life personally assuming the objectives, oriented to the study, the deepening, the communication of Sacred Scripture. To the Word, Sr Romi gave all of herself, she literally gave her life for the biblical formation of the people of God; she struggled, she spent and overcharged so that the Word of the Lord would be known, loved, assimilated into the daily life of people. She had a rather fragile health but when it came to organizing biblical courses and promoting the formation of the various categories of people, she did not pay attention to fatigue, she was always ready and available. With the help of her sisters and other experts, she created a Biblical Project called Biblia em Comunidade which, in its three modules, considers different areas: the global vision of the Bible, biblical theologies, the Bible as literature. A complete project of aids widespread in Brazil that has formed hundreds and hundreds of pastoral workers, seminarians, religious, laity. A project that is also used in other Pauline districts, especially in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Angola. She herself drew up a large part of the grants, was the initiator and coordinator of the Distance Course (EAD) and teacher in the courses organized in presence. Among other many commitments, she coordinated the group Shema which prepares the contents for the Month of the Bible that is celebrated every year in Brazil, and she herself has repeatedly animated and promoted this pastoral at the national level. She was director of the Brazilian Association of Biblical Research (Associazione Brasiliana di Ricerca biblica); for for over thirty years, she was responsible for the Biblical Animation Service (SAB) and also, she was a teacher of Sacred Scripture at the Catholic University and the Saint Thomas Institute. In the archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, she began a course for the laity called Living Theology. With other sisters she taught for nine years to pastoral agents in the favelas and urban agglomerations of Belo Horizonte. In recent times she was coordinating a team of experts in cartography and biblical scholars in view of the publication of biblical maps. She also wrote numerous books, all oriented to the explanation and meditation of the sacred text. She had a particular art in communicating the Word of God, a deep conviction that fascinated listeners. She knew how to involve the laity who then became “multipliers” of the Word in the parishes and in the various dioceses. Thank you sr. Romi for your beautiful witness and for the living love to the Word of God!