Gnawing the bark

In things of faith and morals, the true sense of Holy Scripture is held by the Church, whose place it is to judge the interpretation of the Scriptures (1 Tim 3:15); and it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture against such sense or against the unanimous agreement of the Fathers’ (*34). What can be a greater sign of pride than to refuse to study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of those who have interpreted them?

But it is most unbecoming to pass by, in ignorance or contempt, the excellent work which Catholics have left in abundance, and to have recourse to the works of non-Catholics – and to seek in them, to the detriment of sound doctrine and often to the peril of faith, the explanation of passages on which Catholics long ago have successfully employed their talent and their labour. For although the studies of non-Catholics, used with prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic student, he should, nevertheless, bear well in mind-as the Fathers also teach in numerous passages (*41) – that the sense of Holy Scripture can nowhere be found incorrupt outside of the Church, and cannot be expected to be found in writers who, being without the true faith, only gnaw the bark of the Sacred Scripture, and never attain its pith” (*34, 37, 40-41; Providentissimus Deus).

-- Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus (1893)