Pontifical Biblical Commission
He was Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission from 1990 to 2001, under its president Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI. In that post, Vanhoye played an important role in two important studies that, in the words of a Jesuit appraisal, "extended the work of the [Second Vatican] Council": "L'Interprétation de la Bible dans l'Église" (1993) and "Le Peuple juif et ses saintes Écritures dans la Bible chrétienne" (2001). He retired from teaching when he turned 75 in 1998.