Catholic World News News Feature
ICEL's Failed Legacy September 28, 2001
By Father Jerry J. Pokorsky
In 1992, disturbed by the prospect of a new generation of poor liturgical translations by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), a group of priests from the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, founded CREDO: "a society of priests dedicated to the faithful translation of the liturgy." CREDO's newsletters observed that the translation problems which many priests had found in the 1973 ICEL Sacramentary were not likely to be corrected, while new translation difficulties would be introduced, until new principles were developed to guide liturgical translations.
CREDO was born in reaction to new revisions that were then under consideration for liturgical texts. The revisions being suggested by ICEL, in the pursuit of "inclusive language," actually included a change in the Nicene Creed; the draft change proposed that Homo factus est ("He became man") be translated to say that Jesus "became truly human." Other proposed changes in the English translation of the Mass included a "contemporary" rewording of the Our Father.
With these proposed revisions—introduced at a time when many concerned priests were still grumbling about the previous round of changes—ICEL touched off a new burst of protests. Advocates of more faithful translations were looking for a way to make their voices heard in the process; the time was right for the formation of CREDO. The organization quickly grew to include over 2,000 English-speaking priests.
In 1994, acting on its own initiative, CREDO commissioned a group of scholars to study the principles that had guided ICEL's translation of the liturgical texts. In the July 1994 issue, Catholic World Report reproduced two documents prepared by CREDO. The first was a scholarly critique of Comme le prévoit, the 1969 Vatican committee document governing ICEL's method of translation, which emphasized the principle of "dynamic equivalence." The second document introduced CREDO's own proposals: an alternative set of principles to guide liturgical translation. The CREDO principles were motivated by the desire for accurate and faithful translation. At the time, the editor of Catholic World Report observed that the story of CREDO "could have the most profound impact on everyday life of the Church in the English-speaking world."
Nearly seven years after the publication of those CREDO documents, the Holy See has now issued the highly authoritative Liturgiam Authenticam, the "Fifth Instruction For the Right Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council." Most of CREDO's common-sense principles regarding liturgical translation are echoed in Liturgiam Authenticam.
In light of the remarkable similarity between the Vatican document and the CREDO principles, it is certainly neither fair nor accurate to suggest—as some public critics of Liturgiam Authenticam have already suggested—that the Holy See is ignoring the opinions of the American clergy, or of native English speakers. Hundreds of English-speaking priests have already given their endorsement to these principles of translation.
For years, ICEL supporters insisted that they understood the feelings of most ordinary Catholics, while their critics were "out of touch" with the people. To test that proposition, Catholic World Report commissioned a poll of American Catholics, which was carried out by the Roper Center in 1997. The results were devastating to ICEL's argument. By lopsided majorities (ranging from 69 to 73 percent in response to a series of similar questions), respondents rejected the notion that liturgical texts should be rendered into more "inclusive" language. By similar majorities, Catholic Americans indicated their preference for more direct, accurate translations of the Latin texts. The rejection of ICEL's principles was evident in every sub-group studied by the Roper Center; for example, women were no more likely than men to want "inclusive" translations. And the preference for faithful translation was most overwhelming among the Catholics who attended Mass most frequently.
Since the recent meetings of the US bishops have also become marked by increasingly sharp disagreements about the work of ICEL, it is also disingenuous to imply that the American bishops have formed a united front on the issue of translation. Insofar as English-language translations are concerned, Liturgiam Authenticam answers a real and pressing need for the Holy See to resolve important differences of opinions among the bishops and among Catholics in general.
EMERGING CONFLICT
Representatives of CREDO, along with other critics of the ICEL translations, were often scorned by the liturgical establishment in ad hominem attacks .A familiar pattern of argumentation emerged: ICEL's defenders questioned the motivations of their critics, without seriously addressing the critics' substantive concerns. Thus for example in a June 1994 interview in the US Catholic, ICEL staff member James Schellman assured readers that the concerns expressed by groups such as CREDO were unfounded, because the new revisions of the ICEL Sacramentary were "not at all" drastic. He went on to say that critics of ICEL translations were not really conservatives but archconservatives. And in a dismissive allusion to CREDO's concerns about the role of the priest acting in persona Christi, he contended: "Fundamentally that criticism seems to mean that, in the archconservatives' minds, the priest and no one else is representing Christ in the assembly."
Apparently ICEL also impugned the motives of Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez, the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. ICEL's criticisms moved the cardinal to insist—in a letter to ICEL chairman Bishop Maurice Taylor of Galloway, Scotland on October 26, 1999—that "observations [by the Congregation] have often been countered with unfounded charges of personal grudges and hostility to the Commission [i.e., ICEL]." The cardinal was quick to link ICEL's ad hominem tactics to a broader strategy of non-cooperation, concluding:
In reality, the lack of response to the Holy See's stated concerns on the part of those who have effectively had in hand the work of the Commission has often hampered and delayed the Congregation's work to a notable degree, also occasioning a disproportionate commitment of its resources.
The recent history of ICEL's work shows a growing disenchantment with the group—not only on the part of the Vatican but also among the American bishops. The revised ICEL Sacramentary, ICEL's new translation of the Roman Missal, was expected to be routinely confirmed by the Vatican in 1994 after being quickly approved by the American (and other English-speaking) bishops. But the American bishops stunned ICEL and even their own liturgy committee by delaying the approval process. The US bishops' conference did not explain the delay, and the bishops' deliberations on liturgical translations were moved into closed sessions, so that only indirect reports on the content of their debates reached the general Catholic public. But obviously the support which ICEL had once enjoyed was now eroding. The texts for the Sacramentary—eventually released in eight segments along with certain ancillary texts—would finally be received by the Vatican in 1998. There is no evidence, at this writing, that the texts will be confirmed by the Holy See.
In Rome the mounting opposition to ICEL's approach was much more evident. In a September 20, 1997 letter to the president of the American bishops' conference, the Congregation for Divine Worship indicated that ICEL's revised Ordination Rite (which is separate and distinct from the ICEL Sacramentary) "cannot be approved or confirmed by the Holy See for liturgical use." Observers noted that all of the problems identified by then-Archbishop Medina in that letter could also apply to the new translation of the ICEL Sacramentary. Despite Cardinal Medina's call for an early resolution to the translation problems, the ICEL revised Ordination Rite continues to languish. ICEL has not produced new revisions to correct the problems that were noted by the Congregation for Divine Worship, and the Vatican body has not (and surely will not) approved the existing version.
COOPERATION STILL NECESSARY
Within this historical context, it is instructive to revisit the CREDO principles of translation and compare them, seven years later, to the translation principles enunciated by Liturgiam Authenticam—a Vatican document approved by the Holy Father himself.
A provocative question arises from all of this: Had ICEL been respectfully attentive to its critics and listened carefully to the signals from the Vatican, would the English-speaking bishops have suffered the trauma of such a lengthy and confusing process of approval for new liturgical translations?
But the final chapters of this tumultuous era of liturgical translation have not yet been written. The principles set forth in Liturgiam Authenticam offer great promise for the future, but faithful Catholics will not feel any relief until the Instruction is actually implemented—that is, until new translations are introduced, and old ones corrected, to provide accurate and reverent rendering of liturgical texts. Will the liturgical establishment be willing—at last—to cooperate with the Vatican?
If the new principles of translation are taken to heart, the legacy of Pope John Paul II's pontificate will include an extraordinary advance in authentic liturgical reform, in keeping with the real teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
[AUTHOR ID] Father Jerry J. Pokorsky is the rector of St. Peter's church in Washington, Virginia and co-founder of CREDO.
[Ken, sidebar should be 2 columns, with the quotes side by side, separated by lines or some other little graphical device.]
[SIDEBAR]
[HEAD] Comparing Principles of Translation
[SUBHEAD] The norms put forward in Liturgiam Authenticam frequently match the principles suggested by CREDO (and published in CWR) in 1994. Some examples:
[TEXT]
CREDO: Properly speaking, the liturgical text is the dialogue of Christ and of the Church as she listens and responds to her Lord and unites herself to Him as He offers Himself to the Father.
Liturgiam Authenticam (19): ...by means of these words [of liturgical texts] God speaks continually with the Spouse of his beloved Son, the Holy Spirit leads the Christian faithful into all truth and causes the word of Christ to dwell abundantly within them...
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CREDO: The "self" which they express in the liturgy is not primarily the empirical self. It is the "self" which participates, by way of baptism, in the Church's identity as the Bride of Christ.
LA (19): The...words spoken in liturgical celebrations, especially in the celebration of the Sacraments, are not intended primarily to be a sort of mirror of the interior dispositions of the faithful; rather, they express truths that transcend the limits of time and space.
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CREDO: The original Latin liturgical text is the sole archetype, and must always be the norm for translating into the vernacular. The Latin text is itself the product of the renewal that the Church called for in the Second Vatican Council....
LA (20). The Latin liturgical texts of the Roman Rite, while drawing on centuries of ecclesial experience in transmitting the faith of the Church received from the Fathers, are themselves the fruit of the liturgical renewal, just recently brought forth.
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CREDO: ...the contribution of the translator towards authentic renewal is to produce an accurate and complete translation of the Latin text....
LA (23): ...it is always the text of the Latin editio typica itself that is to be translated.
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CREDO: The purpose of translation is to render one language into another. The primary goal of the translation of the liturgy is to convey with radiant intelligibility the meaning and full beauty of the Latin original.
LA (20): ...the original text, insofar as possible, must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner, without omissions or additions in terms of their content, and without paraphrases or glosses.
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CREDO: It is erroneous to conclude that real liturgical work begins only when local committees produce new liturgical texts and forms of their own, or when they attempt to compensate for the alleged deficiencies of the Latin archetype.
LA (20): In order that such a rich patrimony may be preserved and passed on through the centuries, it is to be kept in mind from the beginning that the translation of the liturgical texts of the Roman Liturgy is not so much a work of creative innovation as it is of rendering the original texts faithfully and accurately into the vernacular language.
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CREDO: ...the editio typica of the post-Conciliar text of the Novus Ordo, already reformed by the Church in keeping with the norms of the Council. ...the editio typica of our Mass texts should always be the most recently promulgated Latin texts....
LA (24): ...it is not permissible that the translations be produced from other translations already made into other languages; rather, the new translations must be made directly from the original texts, namely the Latin....
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CREDO: All liturgical language, by the very fact that it is canonized in ritual, is "pulled out" of the general flux of linguistic change and so will differ in some respects from the current active language of its hearers. There is a sense in which liturgical language is intrinsically archaic....
LA (56): Certain expressions that belong to the heritage of the whole or of a great part of the ancient Church, as well as others that have become part of the general human patrimony, are to be respected by a translation that is as literal as possible....
--------------- CREDO: The translator should be aware that to some extent liturgy actively forms the culture—including the linguistic culture—of the faithful, and that his text is as much the mistress of language as its pupil.
LA (47): While the translation must transmit the perennial treasury of orations by means of language understandable in the cultural context for which it is intended, it should also be guided by the conviction that liturgical prayer not only is formed by the genius of a culture, but itself contributes to the development of that culture.
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CREDO: In any language, a given word has a whole range of meanings, and a translator must carefully discern the specific meaning called for in a given context. However, there does exist such a thing as the language of Christian theology and tradition, consecrated in English.... The very fact that a word is part of the sacral vocabulary means that its ritual use will be detached to some extent from its profane meanings; liturgy "endows" words with its own sacral meanings the way it "endows" other common objects (such as a chalice or a candle) with its own meanings....
LA (47): Liturgical translation that takes due account of the authority and integral content of the original texts will facilitate the development of a sacral vernacular, characterized by a vocabulary, syntax, and grammar that are proper to divine worship, even though it is not to be excluded that it may exercise an influence even on everyday speech, as has occurred in the languages of peoples evangelized long ago."
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CREDO: The fact that a word or usage is archaic or not in the active vocabulary of the hearers does not make it obsolete. Liturgy moreover effects a uniquely complex linguistic environment in which meanings perdure that are lost or weakened in everyday speech. If a word or usage has been consecrated by liturgical or theological tradition as a translation of a Latin idea it should not give way to a novel formulation unless there is a real danger that the liturgy will be understood in a way contrary to the mind of the Church by retention of the older formulation. It should be stressed again that the first duty of the translator is to the integrity of the original text. Inasmuch as the Latin of the liturgy does not reflect a single moment of the history of spoken Latin, but is rather a special hieratic form of the language, so too the translator should be aware of the due place of archaism in the fashioning of a dignified and elevated liturgical language.
LA (27): ...it will be seen that the observance of the principles set forth in this Instruction will contribute to the gradual development, in each vernacular, of a sacred style that will come to be recognized as proper to liturgical language. Thus it may happen that a certain manner of speech which has come to be considered somewhat obsolete in daily usage may continue to be maintained in the liturgical context. In translating biblical passages where seemingly inelegant words or expressions are used, a hasty tendency to sanitize this characteristic is likewise to be avoided. These principles, in fact, should free the Liturgy from the necessity of frequent revisions when modes of expression may have passed out of popular usage.
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CREDO: ...an important aspect of the homily is to interpret and apply to a particular congregation the great mystical and moral teachings of the mystery proclaimed in the language of both Scripture and the Liturgy. It has never been the assumption that these should simply "speak for themselves" at a surface level of first contact."
LA (29): It is the task of the homily and of catechesis to set forth the meaning of the liturgical texts....
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CREDO: The only way of communicating the fullness of the rich mystery of revelation through texts is to produce translations which are transparencies of the original. Hence, the work of interpretation should always refer back to the integral range of images and ideas rather than be based on just "one (allegedly) true meaning."
LA (43): Modes of speech by which heavenly realities and actions are depicted in human form, or designated by means of limited, concrete terminology as happens quite frequently in biblical language (i.e., anthropomorphisms) often maintain their full force only if translated somewhat literally.... Thus it is best that such terms not be explained or interpreted by more abstract or general vernacular expressions.
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CREDO: Care should also be taken that adaptation to contemporary language not be governed by trends, which are by their nature transitory, or by ideologies, which disfigure the beauty and integrity of the Church's message.
LA (32): To be avoided...are expressions characteristic of commercial publicity, political or ideological programs, passing fashions, and those which are subject to regional variations or ambiguities in meaning.
--------------- CREDO: Great effort must be taken to avoid the mutations of doctrine and prayer practices which would evacuate the specific content or aspects of scriptural revelation and tradition. If allowed to become normative, the influence of contemporary trends and ideologies will serve to render the text obsolete and unworthy of the Church.
LA (3): ...the greatest prudence and attention is required in the preparation of liturgical books marked by sound doctrine, which are exact in wording, free from all ideological influence, and otherwise endowed with those qualities by which the sacred mysteries…are efficaciously transmitted…and worthy worship is offered to God the Most High.
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CREDO: There are certain archetypes in the human psyche that are constants, regardless of one's geographical location or cultural milieu. Examples of these are the directions up and down (heaven and earth), the four points of the compass to organize space (the symbolic cross), heat for punishment and coolness for consolation, light for goodness and joy, and darkness for evil and fear. Scripture and the liturgy are privileged storehouses of such symbolic archetypes, not only for Christians but for all of humanity. Therefore language expressing such constants should be maintained.
LA (43): "Modes of speech by which heavenly realities and actions are depicted in human form, or designated by means of limited, concrete terminology as happens quite frequently in biblical language (i.e., anthropomorphisms) often maintain their full force only if translated somewhat literally, as in the case of words in the Nova Vulgata Editio such as ambulare, brachium, digitus, manus, or vultus [Dei], as well as caro, cornu, os, semen, and visitare. Thus it is best that such terms not be explained or interpreted by more abstract or general vernacular expressions. As regards certain terms, such as those translated in the Nova Vulgata as anima and spiritus, the principles mentioned in above nn. 40-41 should be observed. Therefore, one should avoid replacing these terms by a personal pronoun or a more abstract term, except when this is strictly necessary in a given case. It should be borne in mind that a literal translation of terms which may initially sound odd in a vernacular language may for this very reason provoke inquisitiveness in the hearer and provide an occasion for catechesis.
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CREDO: The liturgical formula introducing most proclamations of the Gospel (In illo tempore dixit Jesus discipulis suis...) is essential to distinguish an ordinary reading of the Gospel (for purposes of study, spiritual reading, or information) from the liturgical proclamation of the Gospel.
LA (45): As regards those parts of the incipits that are not part of the biblical text itself, these are to be translated exactly from the Latin when preparing Lectionaries....
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CREDO: The use of "charity" in liturgical translation of the Latin caritas maintains the theologically important distinction between divine charity and merely human loves. The use of "charity" would provide an occasion to teach people the difference between charity, on the one hand, and amor and dilectio, on the other. As it is, the indiscriminate use of 'love" to translate all of these terms accentuates the sentimental and the instinctual, as opposed to explicit choices and acts of the will.
LA (51): "The translation may be weakened and made trite, for example, by the use of a single vernacular term for rendering differing Latin terms such as satiari, sumere, vegetari, and pasci, on the one hand, or the nouns caritas and dilectio on the other, or the words anima, animus, cor, mens, and spiritus, to give some examples."
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CREDO: It is not the business of the translator, for whom the editio typica has the textual authority of an autograph, to perform a secondary effort of critical scholarship, except to the extent that this is helpful in understanding the Latin original. It is the Church's original intention in using a given liturgical text that is primary—not the supposed meaning of the Biblical or patristic author. The translator should not be asked to judge the content of revelation, nor is the choice of another text part of his prerogative."
LA (23): "In the translation of texts of ecclesiastical composition, while it is useful with the assistance of historical and other scientific tools to consult a source that may have been discovered for the same text, nevertheless it is always the text of the Latin editio typica itself that is to be translated."
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CREDO: Another frequent failing of translations, of both Liturgy and Scriptures, has been the "psychologizing" of things that are ontological in Christian faith. Translations should avoid using terms that psychologize that which, in the original Latin, is expressed in an objective way. For example, "faith" is often translated as "trust" with its emphasis on the psychological state, instead of the theological virtue and its content....
LA (54): To be avoided in translations is any psychologizing tendency, especially a tendency to replace words treating of the theological virtues by others expressing merely human emotions.
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CREDO: The response to "The Lord be with you" should be "And with your spirit." In the editio typica the Church could have said in perfectly good Latin Et tecum as the response to Dominus vobiscum. Instead, she retained a non-standard and specifically liturgical greeting."
LA (56): Certain expressions that belong to the heritage of the whole or of a great part of the ancient Church, as well as others that have become part of the general human patrimony, are to be respected by a translation that is as literal as possible, as for example the words of the people's response Et cum spiritu tuo, or the expression mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa in the Act of Penance of the Order of Mass.
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CREDO: The Latin parallelism, chiasms, contrasts and other rhetorical forms can ordinarily be translated very beautifully into English. When they are systematically excluded (as in many contemporary liturgical translations), the result is very flat, with each prayer sounding like all the rest. The structure should be retained in the English translation if possible."
LA (57): The connection between various expressions, manifested by subordinate and relative clauses, the ordering of words, and various forms of parallelism, is to be maintained as completely as possible in manner appropriate to the vernacular language.
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CREDO: An enduring translation allows for the development of a personal familiarity with and a love for the language of the liturgy. These can only develop over a long period of time. Adults have a special affection for the prayers they learned as children. Through familiar prayer we experience the benefits of continuity with our own past and with preceding generations.
LA (40): …all care is to be taken to ensure that the words of the biblical passages commonly used in catechesis and in popular devotional prayers be maintained.
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CREDO: Credo = "I believe." But the current and proposed translation of the Nicene Creed incorrectly translates the opening word, Credo, as "We believe." "We Believe!" is an activist group, organized to oppose the work of CREDO. Its membership includes many members of the American liturgical establishment.
LA (65): The Creed is to be translated according to the precise wording that the tradition of the Latin Church has bestowed upon it, including the use of the first person singular, by which is clearly made manifest that the confession of faith is handed down in the Creed, as it were, as coming from the person of the whole Church, united by means of the Faith.
