Church in the World

Vatican approves new Mass text for English-speaking Catholic world

Timothy Lavin, Abigail Frymann 2 August 2008

The long-awaited, much-debated, new translation of the Order of the Mass has been approved by the Vatican, signalling the direction weekly Masses are to take in Catholic parishes across the English-speaking world.

On 25 July the United States bishops' conference announced that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) had granted recognitio for the first, most important and most often-used section of the re-translated Missal, which contains the eucharistic prayers and prefaces, the Penitential Rite, the Gloria, the Creed, acclamations, the Lord's Prayer and other prayers and responses used daily.

The intention of the new English version was to bring the language of liturgy more strictly into line with the Latin text, but from the outset it has been a point of controversy between traditionalists and more progressive voices. It comes after a 1998 version containing inclusive and more modern language was suspended by the Vatican at the recognitio stage.

The new text has been put together following the 2001 Vatican instruction, Liturgiam authenticam, which aimed to bring the English translation of the Mass more closely in line with the standard Latin version.

The letter from Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the CDW, regarding the recognitio is dated 23 June - only 10 days after American bishops attending their plenary meeting in Orlando unexpectedly failed to give their assent to the second section of the revised Missal (the Proper of Seasons). This had been approved by four anglophone conferences, but discussion of the text will have to resume at the American bishops' November meeting.

The prompt action from the Vatican of approving this first section without waiting for the others to be submitted, may be intended to send a message to sceptical bishops that the new Missal is going ahead.

Although the recognitio was applied for by the American bishops, the decision will apply to all members of ICEL, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, which represents the 11 English-speaking bishops' conferences.

While the full text has not yet been made public, notable changes include the congregation responding to the priest's greeting "The Lord be with you" with the words "And also with your spirit," instead of the more familiar "And also with you". In the penitential rite, the words, "I have sinned through my own fault," have been expanded to "I have greatly sinned ... through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." And the response at the pre-communion prayer will be, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." The old response had been, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Long sentence structures have been left intact to correspond to and reflect the original Latin.

The Credo will begin "I believe" in line with the Latin rather than "We believe". The Gloria has been re-translated and re-structured though details have not yet been made public. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesman Fr Rick Hilgartner said the full text could be posted on their website as early as next week.

The ICEL member conferences approved the changes to the Order of Mass in 2006 and sent them to the CDW for approval, but then had heard little from the CDW. Each conference submitted amendments they wanted made but it is not yet known whose will have made the final edit. Although the bishops had planned to have a full translation of the Roman Missal completed by 2010, the date for implementing the changes will fall to individual bishops' conferences.

Cardinal Arinze said that the Vatican provided the text of the Order of Mass early to allow "time for the pastoral preparation of priests, deacons and for appropriate catechesis of the lay faithful. It will likewise facilitate the devising of musical settings for parts of the Mass".

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