Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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RITUAL, ROMAN

The book containing the prayers and ceremonies to be used by bishops, priests, and deacons in the sacred liturgy. In 1614, Pope Paul V ordered the publication of the first Roman Ritual, in order to unify what by then had become a variety of (sometimes) conflicting manuals in the Catholic Church. This was revised by Pope Benedict XIV in 1742, re-edited by Pope Leo XIII in 1884, and once more adapted by Pope Pius XI after the publication of the Code of Canon Law. The Second Vatican Council decreed that all local rituals should be "adapted linguistically and otherwise to the needs of the different regions" and "in accordance with the new edition of the Roman Ritual" (Constitution on the Liturgy, III, 63).