On The Net

'On the Net' is a monthly column in the paper version of The Tablet. The articles are written by Lavinia Byrne.

Wild texts chase

Lavinia Byrne
12 June 2004

A RANDOM question from a reader sent me off scouring the internet for a useful liturgical resource: where can you find a copy of the 1998 ICEL (International Commission on English in the Liturgy) texts online? The correspondent said: "I heard that an Australian website had posted the so-called Green Draft of the latest translation of the Order of Mass. This was the one The Tablet published on 22 May 2004. The one I'm looking for is the 1998 ICEL text that was approved by most of the English-speaking bishops' conferences but rejected by the Vatican. It runs into four volumes - originally on A4 held in ring binders. I have searched for this but haven't found anything. I think it would have created a noise if it had been available online."

So, in search of noise, I set off to hunt. As my correspondent noted: "I think the 1998 ICEL texts should be available for comparison. It has been a huge disservice to the English-speaking Church and a shameful waste of scholarship and linguistic art to have them shelved."

I was not helped by the fact that an enterprise called the International Consortium for Experiential Learning, known - guess what - as ICEL - held a conference in 1998. Their papers seem to dominate the net, ICEL-wise. But hope was in sight at www.adoremus.com which is the website of the Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, an association of Catholics established in 1995, to promote authentic reform of the Liturgy of the Roman Rite. "The mission of Adoremus is to rediscover and restore the beauty, the holiness, the power of the Church's rich liturgical tradition while remaining faithful to an organic, living process of renewal." So far so good but, despite the protest that "Adoremus fully and unreservedly accepts the Second Vatican Council as an act of the Church's supreme Magisterium (teaching authority) guided by the Holy Spirit, and regards its documents as an expression, in our time, of the word of Christ", there was no sign of the 1998 ICEL texts. A plethora of useful articles traced the account of their rise and fall, but the documents themselves were not available.

A judgement on them that mirrors the Holy See's is offered at www.ad2000.com.au/articles/1998/apr1998p7_559.html which is an Australian site claiming that "the strengthening of orthodoxy through John Paul II's leadership, the leadership of new bishops, the rise of new movements in the Church and the consolidation of a determined laity constitute the beginning of a revival. Still no sign of the texts though. I am still searching.

A moving tribute to the enterprise is given at www.gallowaydiocese.org.uk/ othernews/icel.htm othernews/icel.htm where the former Bishop of Galloway, the Rt Revd Michael Taylor, who headed the translation committee, gives a personal apologia. Log on to The Tablet's archives for Austen Ivereigh's article, A War of Words. At www.thetablet.co.uk/cgibin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00841 there is a full treatment of the issue.

Another recommendation: at www.paxchristi.org.uk/ a predictably more eirenic spirit prevails. The site offers resources for the promotion of reconciliation and a culture of peace and non-violence, as well as providing the means to bring about peace, e.g. through peace education resources and training. Or visit www.humanitafoundation.org to learn more about an Australian Catholic Foundation which is "committed to investigate and promote a better understanding of human development and sexuality within a Christ-centred spirituality. This site suffers from the fact that it is very text-based, despite having some photos of the leadership team. Many religious sites fail to take up the visual opportunities of the internet, most probably because they are put together by enthusiastic amateurs. Having said that, the bibliography is good, though a number of the recommended links do not work.

On a lighter and more topical note, at www.harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk/games/home.html , searchers can become beaters, seekers, chasers and keepers. The rules of Quidditch are set out in detail and there are opportunities to play the game online. If you want to go on a Harry Potter pilgrimage, try www.britishtours.com/harry_potter.html where each of the locations of the films in the series is featured. They are listed in loving detail, from Picket Post Close, Bracknell, the suburban, mock-tudor home of the Dursleys; through the Reptile House in London Zoo; Australia House on the Strand, which was the setting for The Wizard Bank; King's Cross Station, which provided platform 9 and three quarters; via Gloucester Cathedral, setting for ghost scenes, talking pictures and chattering toilets; to Christ Church, Oxford, the school's library and sanatorium.

Please send your suggestions to lavinia@byrne.name if you wish to have a site considered for review or have suggestions for other Tablet readers.

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