The Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) is an American learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible. The suggestion to form a permanent association of biblical scholars was made at the beginning of 1936 at a meeting in Washington, D.C., held to plan for the preparation of a revised translation of the New Testament. The proposed organization was formally founded, as "The Catholic Biblical Association of America", by some fifty charter members who met for this purpose in New York City on October 3, 1936, and is not affiliated with the Catholic Church or made up of exclusively Catholic members. Membership now numbers more than 1,200. Those who hold an advanced degree in biblical studies are eligible to be elected to membership, irrespective of any religious affiliation. Since 1939, the CBA has published the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, a peer-reviewed academic journal. Other publications include Old Testament Abstracts and the Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series.