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There are several Bible translations that have an imprimatur in the Catholic Church, such as the New Jerusalem Bible. This Wikipedia article lists other translations with an imprimatur, but as best I can tell, they are all intended for adults.

Has the Catholic Church within the United States given an imprimatur to any English Bible translations intended for children? By a Bible translation intended for children, I mean the likes of the International Children's Bible or the New International Reader's Version.

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  • Imprimaturs are given by Bishops' Conferences for use in their jurisdictions. Which part of "the Catholic Church" are you asking about? Presumably an English-speaking Conference, but which one?
    – Andrew Leach
    Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 20:40
  • @AndrewLeach I've specified that I am interested in the United States. Is that specific enough or do I need to narrow it down even further?
    – Thunderforge
    Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 21:26

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The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a partial list of approved translations, which contains

Translation for Early Youth, A Translation of the New Testament for Children, Contemporary English Version, American Bible Society

However, this version is only approved for private use and study. It would appear that the only version approved for public use in the United States is the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE).

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  • "Public use" just means for mass, right? Or would it also include, for instance, a children's Sunday School lesson?
    – Thunderforge
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 0:48
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    No: public means public. A Sunday school is not private study. It's possible that a "Bible study" group of consenting adults might get away with a different translation.
    – Andrew Leach
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 8:13
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As a Catechism teacher I used the St. Mary's Press Breakthrough Bible the younger kids used the Childrens Bible.

I can't recall if they had imprimaturs, but their use was approved by our diocese (Madison, WI). As far as I could remember, they were GNT Bibles. BTW, I've got a copy of "The Way - Catholic Edition" the 1970's happy times Bible, and that had an Imprimatur. So that might be a low bar.

I'd ask, are there any Catholic Bibles for kids that say "Blessed" instead of "Happy" when describing Our Lady and The Beatitudes? I think the answer to that is no.

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