Why are there no Bibles in the pews at Catholic Churches?
The Mass is one very large prayer to us Catholics. This "prayer" includes readings from both the old and new Testaments (changing every day), prayers from the Bible, and numerous "man made" prayers.
It is our preferred method of group worship, at least one day per week. Our Bibles are left at home, but we are encouraged and instructed to open them, read, pray, and study them as often as we can.
While there are no complete Bibles, there are the missalettes with the readings, usually, one from the OT, one from the NT, and the Gospel. We have readings for every day of the year.
Sola ecclesia.
Every Catholic owns their own Bible and are free to bring it or their personal missile to every Mass. We worship God and His only begotten Son, not a book, and as part of that worship we participate in the Liturgy of the Word at every Mass. Every Catholic parish covers more of the Bible in three years than any protestant church does. I can guarantee that.
Pride goeth before a fall.
Well over in my parish, every Catholic receives a copy of the bible upon their confirmation at age 13, and takes it with them to church from then on. Seems it would kind of be redundant to have an extra bible available for everyone since they already have one. I'm sure anyone who didn't bring their bible would be able to share one with their neighbor.
A friend of mine who is a former Catholic told me that and you could have knocked me over with a feather, I was so shocked! She also told me that most Catholics do not read their Bibles and that they rely on the Church to “tell” them what it says.
Because the Bible verses for the day are planned out in advance and are printed in the missalettes in the pews.
And to Phil’s excellent answer, I will add this:
The Apostles who started the Church were once Jews. In the Jewish temples, one person would get up and read from the sacred scripture and all in the congregation would listen to the words. Christ got up and read the scripture in the Temple to the assembled Jews.
The Apostles began the new Church of Christ in the same way and the Catholic Church has continued their tradition through all times. Many of the things Catholics do at Mass have their roots in the Jewish traditions given to us by the Apostles. Christ was a Jew and we continue to honor His heritage in our Mass and customs.
Catholics are to study the Bible at home. We have missals in the pews we can use if we like to read along at Mass. At every Mass we read from the psalms, the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Acts or Letters from the Apostles. Our readings encompass Old Testament Jewish history and prophesy, Christ’s actions and words to us, the story of the early Church, and clarifications from the Apostles. In addition, the priest delivers a homily in which he highlights aspects of the readings of the day from the Bible.
Every Mass is a small, intense Bible Study, along with the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice for us on Calvary.
I hope that helps. For all who would like to know more about our customs, I can recommend books by Tim Staples. He looked at them from a Protestant perspective.
Again, I am a Protestant who has been married to a Catholic almost 25 years. I also have attended mass at a Catholic Church 80% of Sundays the past 25 years.
To me , it is absolutely stunning the lack of knowledge that Catholics have of the Bible. Where as a kid, we Protestants were absolutely drilled on scripture, Catholics (even with catechism)only learn Dogma and tradition of RC Church.
Just ask any group of Catholics a general question about the Bible or Bible history. You'll be surprised of all the blank "deer in the headlight" stares you will get.