Vatican official: no return to 1998 English translation of the liturgy
March 19, 2015
The secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship has ruled out the use of the English-language translation of the Roman Missal that was proposed by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy in 1998 but ultimately rejected by the Vatican.
Archbishop Arthur Roche told The Tablet that the new translation “expresses the unity of the entire Church.” He rejected the calls by some liberal liturgists for the return of the older translation.
The 1998 translation, widely criticized by conservative Catholics for its failure to adhere to the original Latin language of the liturgy, was revised by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) after the release of a new Latin Missal, and new principles guiding accurate translations.
Before taking his current assignment at the Vatican, Archbishop Roche had been chairman of ICEL, and supervised the production of the new English translation.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Mar. 19, 2015 8:00 PM ET USA
Thanks be to God! What a street-language mess it was.
-
Posted by: JimKcda -
Mar. 19, 2015 7:43 PM ET USA
So then what? Will we see another 40 years of arguments over "for all men" vs "for many?"
-
Posted by: gary.brisebois1104 -
Mar. 19, 2015 6:44 PM ET USA
I was speaking with a priest friend who joined the Anglican Ordinariate some time ago. He wished that the new liturgy could actually be translated into good English. I have to agree with him, the texts are terrible.
