Pontifical Biblical Commission
Things gradually started to change in the '40s. In 1943, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical "Divino afflante Spiritu" which encouraged scholars to investigate the sacred texts utilizing such resources as recent discoveries in archaeology, ancient history, linguistics, and other technical methods. On January 16, 1948, cardinal Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, responded to a question about the origin of the Pentateuch: