Who, what, when, where, and why: the new translation of the Roman Missal
By Father Randy Stice
“The Lord be with you.” In about a year and half, instead of responding, “And also with you,” the assembly will respond to the priest’s greeting by saying, “And with your spirit.”
This is the first change you will encounter at Mass when we begin using the new English translation of the Roman Missal (the Sacramentary, the ritual text used for the celebration of the Mass).
This is the “what”: not a revision of the Mass but a new translation from the Latin text from which all translations into modern languages are made. In this first of a series of monthly articles, I will address some basic questions about the new translation.
Who is preparing the new translation? The new translation is being prepared by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), which is chartered to prepare English translations of liturgical texts on behalf of the conferences of bishops of English-speaking countries. The Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) in Rome examines the texts and offers authoritative approval (recognitio). The Congregation is aided by Vox Clara, a special commission of bishops and consultants from English-speaking countries. The result will be “a text for the entire English-speaking world” (USCCB).
Where will the new translation be used? At present 11 conferences of bishops are full members of ICEL: the United States, Australia, Canada, England and Wales, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, and South Africa. The translation will also be used in countries which are associate members: the Antilles; Bangladesh; the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific; Gambia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone; Ghana; Kenya; Malaysia-Singapore; Malawi; Nigeria; Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe. Member conferences can offer comments and suggestions on ICEL’s drafts.
When will the new translation be finished? The CDWDS hopes to grant the recognitio by the end of 2009. It will take publishers about one year from the reception of the recognitio to produce the liturgical book of the Roman Missal. So we expect publication by the end of 2010.
Why the new translation? This new translation is the culmination of “a gradual process of evaluation, completion, and consolidation of the liturgical renewal” (CDWDS) initiated by the Second Vatican Council and called for by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter of 1988 on the 25th anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.”
The new translation will incorporate new material from the third edition of the Latin Missale Romanum (editio typica tertia) promulgated in 2000: prayers for the celebration of recently canonized saints, additional Mass texts, and some updated and revised instructions (rubrics) for the celebration of the Mass.
In addition, it will be a more exact translation of the Latin original (e.g., “And with your spirit” instead of “And also with you”). The translation is guided by the CDWDS’s document Liturgiam Authenticam, the fifth instruction “On the use of vernacular languages in the publication of the books of the Roman liturgy,” published in 2001.
Next month this column will present a brief history of translating the Mass into the vernacular.
To learn more, see the following links:
- “Frequently asked questions” on the new translation: usccb.org/romanmissal/faqs.shtml
- “Changes in the Parts of the People”: usccb.org/romanmissal/assembly.shtml or usccb.org/romanmissal/peoplesparts.pdf.
Father Stice is director of the diocesan Worship and Liturgy Office. This column first appeared in the Sept. 6, 2009, edition of The East Tennessee Catholic.
