US bishops to consider new Psalter, revote on missal translation

October 21, 2008

During their November 10-13 meeting, US bishops will consider a new Psalter for liturgical use in the United States, according to a press release issued Monday by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The new Psalter-- the Revised Grail Psalter-- has been prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey in Missouri. According to the Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, now chaired by Bishop Arthur Serratelli, the Revised Grail Psalter has been prepared in accord with Liturgiam authenticam, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments’ 2001 document that called for more accurate liturgical translations.

Currently, two translations of the Psalms are approved for liturgical use in the United States. The Grail Psalter (1963) is used in the Liturgy of the Hours, while the translation of the Psalms in the original edition of the New American Bible (NAB, 1970) is used at Mass. Slight modifications were made to the 1970 NAB text in the lectionary following the publication of Liturgiam authenticam; for example, 'Israelites; was rendered anew as 'children of Israel.'

The 1970 text that Catholics in the United States hear at Mass is different from the one currently in print. The revised New American Bible (RNAB) contains a 1986 translation of the New Testament and a 1991 translation of the Psalms. In 1991, the US bishops’ conference submitted to Rome two new lectionaries for liturgical use, one based on the RNAB. Three years later, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected the proposed lectionaries because of problems with inclusive language. Revisions to the Grail Psalter using inclusive language were published in the 1980s and 1990s, but these revisions were not approved for liturgical use despite their adoption by some religious communities. Inasmuch as it is faithful to Liturgiam authenticam, the Revised Grail Psalter that the bishops will consider in November is altogether different from previous revisions of the Grail Psalter.

At a June meeting of the Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, Father Joseph Jensen, OSB, who was chairman of the NAB Psalter Revision Committee from 1988 to 1991 and has served as executive secretary of the Catholic Biblical Association since 1970, discussed the merits of the 1991 RNAB Psalms, while Abbot Gregory Polan of Conception Abbey discussed the merits of the Revised Grail Psalter. After hearing their presentations, the committee recommended the adoption of the Revised Grail Psalter rather than the RNAB.

At their November meeting, the US bishops will also reconsider a translation of Proper of Seasons that failed to garner the necessary two-thirds approval at their June meeting despite its prior approval by the bishops of England and Wales, Scotland, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Some American bishops at the June meeting had expressed concern that sacral words such as ‘gibbet,’ ‘wrought,’ and ‘ineffable’ were too far removed from common language.

 

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Further information:

• Translation of Psalms, Proper of Seasons, New Blessing for Child in the Womb on Agenda of November Bishops' Meeting (USCCB)
• Transcript: USCCB June 2008 Meeting (Adoremus Bulletin, July-August 2008)
• Bishops to reconsider liturgy translation rejected in mail balloting (CNS, July 2008)
• Newsletter, Committee on Divine Worship (July 2008)
• Volume II of the Lectionary for Mass: Conformity to the Neo-Vulgate (BCL Newsletter, July-August 2001)
• Lectionary-- New Edition for US (EWTN)
• Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Liturgiam authenticam (2001)
• Confusion about Scripture Translations for Liturgical Use: A Status Report (Adoremus Bulletin, 1996)