How come Catholic priest were the only ones to read the Bible?

Answer 1

They were not the ONLY ones, they were just the most likely, for two reasons, 1) they had a Bible available to them at all time, primarily for the Church readings, and for teaching, and 2) they were about the only ones who could read-the only ones with an education. Also, remember that for most of the centuries, of the Church's existence, books were incredibly expensive. It would take an entire herd of sheep to produce enough vellum to produce one Bible, and a bunch of educated monks years of steady labor to copy a Bible. One Bible was worth more than most people earned in a lifetime, and even if they could buy one, they would have to spend years learning to read, etc. However, the Church made them available to all the people who could read, this is were the practice came of chaining Bibles to the lecturn in the Church. They were so incredibly expensive that unscruplous thieves would not scruple to steal a Bible, if nothing else for their valuable gems that were often inlaid in the covers. The practice of chaining them meant that they could be left unguarded all day for anyone to come in and read them. Often parish priests took lads under their tutelage to teach them to read and write, in order, primarily, so that they could read The Bible. The Catholic Church deserves our praise, admiration, and thanks for the centuries in which they not only produced the Bible, but safeguarded it, copied it for century after century so that we, hundreds of years later, would be able to actually have a copy of this written word of God. There is no way in which we can thank the Catholic Church, and her generations of monks, for this immense gift for all of us.