April 17, 2013 John W John W's previous articles
Pope Francis and the new translation
A report on yesterday's menu said that the bishops of Austria have directed priests to keep using "for all" and not change to "for many" at the consecration of the Mass, despite Pope Benedict having pushed for "for many" to be used in all languages
An earlier (ghastly) report said that Cardinal Bergolgio had refused to use "for many" or other changes of the new translation (in Spanish) and also had refused to use the 1962 form of the Mass
So, where does that leave us....especially those of us who have refused to use the new English translation?
I think we have grounds for hope that the new translation will gradually fade away, especially when bishops' conferences are (hopefully soon) given back or take back (like the Austrians) their rightful responsibility to decide liturgical matters
See this hopeful comment at Pray Tell
Progressive English speaking liturgists ought to do three things to get us beyond resuming the liturgy wars at the national and English speaking levels.
1. Advocate that we should continue to use the Old Missal along side of the New Missal with decisions being made at the level of the parish based upon feed back from the people..
2. Adopt the position that they do not intend to remove or revise the New Missal but let it continue to be used based upon feed back from the people.
3. Adopt the 1998 Missal as the vehicle for a next edition of the Missal by letting it be used piecemeal (e.g. by internet downloads) on an experimental basis using the feedback to construct and then approval a Next Missal.
It's no secret that many priests and not a few bishops around the world have refused to use the new translation. The fact that one of our number has now become pope must surely be giving supporters of the new translation a few sleepless nights
What mental gymnastics must Cardinal George (new translation) Pell be going through as he prepares to be on Pope Francis' G8 team? What will the cardinal do at a concelebrated Mass if the pope uses an old translation?!
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