I would differ from Michael Butler (Letters, 25 January) in the exclusive emphasis he gives to the plight of the poor priest fighting to retain his sanity in the face of the present version of the Mass in English. This is not the priest’s Mass, it is the eucharistic assembly of the whole People of God in a parish. The extent of the damage to liturgical life and growth in faith brought about by this harmful Roman initiative is frightening. When the new version first ran for a “pilot year” in New Zealand, the devastating effect it had on parish participation was clearly spelled out to Rome, but it appears no consideration was given to this.The current English-language transliter­ation of the Roman Missal was meant to be the forerunner of similar ventures in all languag