Church in the World

Pope reinstates ?for many? to the consecration prayer

The Vatican is restoring the formula "for you and for many" to correspond more literally to the Latin text contained in the consecration of the wine during Mass. The form of words will replace "for you and for all", which has been in use since Paul VI's new Order of Mass was introduced. The decision will please liturgical purists.

Expected for some time, the decision - made at the "direction" of Pope Benedict after consultation with the episcopal conferences - was communicated to the presidents of the conferences in a mid-October letter from Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Cardinal Arinze cited six points as its rationale. Among these are that "the Roman Rite in Latin has always said pro multis and never pro omnibus in the consecration of the chalice", and that "the expression ‘for many', while remaining open to the inclusion of each human person, is reflective also of the fact that this salvation is not brought about in some mechanistic way, without one's own willing or participation". The statement also cited the impetus of Liturgiam Authenticam, the 2001 instruction on liturgical translations, "to be more faithful to the Latin texts".

The "for all" construct has been employed since the implementation of the revised Order of Mass in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. In the beginning, the formula read "for you and for all men", which was subsequently amended. It appears not only in English, but in several of the Romance languages, including Italian. In each case, Cardinal Arinze said that the conferences where a change of text would apply were "requested to undertake" the beginnings of the process "in the next one or two years".

The CDW letter was communicated to the US Bishops' Conference in a private session at Baltimore and published in the latest newsletter of the US Bishops' Committee for the Liturgy (BCL), which has also responded to parishioners' confusion over the disappearance in some churches of the sign of peace. A clarification reiterated the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which states that "a sign of peace is given ‘if the occasion so suggests'" and may be placed aside in exceptional circumstances, but it "should never be omitted" as a priest's "personal preference".

The newsletter reported a meeting in Leeds at which officials responsible for worship from the hierarchies of the United States, Australia, and England and Wales consulted on "formation programmes" to engage their faithful as they prepare for the introduction of the new rendering of the Mass, anticipated for 2009.

Approved by a wide margin of the bishops last week, BCL reaffirmed that the approved Directory on Music and the Liturgy for the US Church would not take the form of an approved repertory of hymns. The completed statement, which was prepared in compliance with Liturgiam Authenticam, will be sent to Cardinal Arinze's office for the necessary Vatican recognitio.