Gerald O’Collins’ letter (The Tablet, 15 March) was timely. The 1998 translation of the Missal is still out there, crying out to be used. It is indeed a beautiful translation and of course was approved by all the English-speaking Conferences of Bishops. I have two problems. I understand that the Vox Clara version was submitted to the Conferences and approved. Why did the bishops change their collective minds so quickly?
I understand that there were many mistakes in this translation and it had to be reworked. The Curia approved the present translation which was in many places different from what the Bishops had approved. There is a case to be made that the only version actually approved by the Conferences is the 1998 translation. The other problem is the danger of creating turmoil by introducing another Missal in such a short time which would probably annoy a lot of Catholics.
The simple answer would be to retain the responses that people are used to. The only difference would be that people might notice that they can understand the prayers of the 1998 version, being in the excellent chiselled English that they are.
Fr L F Donnelly, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia
In the The Tablet of 15 March we find a leading article and three substantial letters all supporting the open letter to the English-speaking bishops on the question of the Vox Clara version of the Roman Missal. Almost everyone I meet wholeheartedly endorses the plea O’Collins has made. Isn’t it time The Tablet had the courage to start an online petition to our hierarchy making the same point? It would allow the scale of the dissatisfaction with this translation to be clear to the bishops so that action could be taken at the Low Week meeting. As Gerald O’Collins has said it would not require any radical innovation since the ICEL translation has already been approved by the bishops. It would be so much better that a petition should carry the gravitas of The Tablet rather than emanate from some humble layman such as me.
Frank Campbell, Portswood, Southampton
Three cheers for Gerald O'Collins SJ and his open letter to English-speaking bishops.
In the 1970s, after the appearance of the Missal of Paul VI, National Conferences of bishops and the various religious orders were all busy working on their Propers of the Missal and Breviary. I was living in Rome at the time, and found myself involved in our own Propers, starting with the Missal. When we had completed the Latin text, we sent it in to the relevant Congregation for approval.
It came back to us, unapproved, because some of the texts contained words that "were not eucological". But the reply did not tell us which were the offending words, so we had to do the best we could and eventually we got the desired approval.
I wonder would the same criterion apply to the translation of the New Missal approved in 2010? Who can accept in the Roman Canon, for example, that: "Be pleased, O God, we pray, to bless, acknowledge and approve this offering in every respect" is a "eucological" translation of the "Quam oblationem" prayer at the heart of the Latin Canon Missae?
Perhaps if we ask often enough, and refuse to keep quiet, our bishops, and eventually Rome, will give us what we deserve as we approach God in a language we understand. Let us take courage from the gospel, Luke 11, 5-8: "He said to them, "Which of you, who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him,'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer him from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs."
Gabriel McDonagh OSA, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland
Although I share the concern expressed in your editorial regarding the current Missal imposed by the Vatican, I find that by substituting "who" when addressing God with "you", and placing the pronoun in front of its verb, gives the Proper Prayers greater elegance and clarity, at least for me! Surely I am not alone in performing this tiny adjustment?
Fr John Danford, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
Loading ...
