25 October 2018, The Tablet

Evangelical bible ‘set to replace old lectionary’


Following a meeting with the prefect in charge of liturgy at the Vatican, one of the English and Welsh bishops present has said that it looks as if agreement on a new draft lectionary is imminent. 

Last month, during the ad limina visit of the bishops to the Vatican, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth tweeted about an “inspiring” meeting with Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW), and the CDW secretary, Archbishop Arthur Roche. “It was inspiring listening to Cardinal Sarah this morning and Archbishop Roche,” he said. “It looks as if we might have a draft of the new ESV [English Standard Version] lectionary as early as next month.”

When the new translation of the Missal was introduced in 2011, the lectionary and the versions of Scripture authorised for use remained the same: the Revised Standard Version and the Jerusalem Bible. However, a new lectionary has been in preparation for some time and the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has been considering a switch to the English Standard Version.

The ESV translation, which emphasises word-for-word accuracy rather than “dynamic equivalence”, was produced by a team of evangelical scholars and first published in 2001.


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