Confusion over ‘unusable’ Mass translation

A new German translation of the Ordinary of the Mass has been published in the new German hymn book, which was presented on the First Sunday of Advent – even though priests are not allowed to use the text, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt. The 900-page book for lay Catholics, containing hymns, prayers and liturgies, called the Gotteslob (“Praise of God”), includes just one Eucharistic Prayer whereas its predecessor contained them all. Even that contains only one significant change, translating the Latin “pro multis” as “for many” rather than the current “for all”.

A brief note states: “There are different text versions of the Eucharistic Prayers. The one used here is the so-called Second Eucharistic Prayer, in a German translation, which is meant to serve as an orientation when concelebrating Mass … But for the celebration itself, the present valid Missal is binding.”

Because the new Gotteslob was approved as a whole by Rome, technically this translation of the Ordinary of the Mass has also been approved. But the bishops are reluctant to accept proposed changes to the text. Thus anyone following the Ordinary of the Mass in the German-speaking world will have to use the old Gotteslob for the Ordinary of the Mass and the new one for hymns and prayers.

As Catholics in the German-speaking countries no longer use their Missals in church because they recite the responses by heart, few noticed the presence of the new Mass translation in their hymn books on Sunday.