An overlooked but important document in the history of magisterial pronoun- cements on historical-critical biblical scholarship is the 1964 Instruction of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Sancta mater ecclesia. This article traces the history leading up to the Instruction and analyzes its importance during the Second Vatican Council and afterward. A careful examination of the recent Apostolic Exhortation on the Bible by Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum domini, shows that the rather optimistic evaulation of historical-criticism that characterized the Magisterium’s attitude in the post-conciliar era has now been tempered and a «reform of the reform» is perhaps underway regarding the relationship between exegesis and theology.