English missal translation: Sense and sensitivities

With little more than six months to go before the introduction of the translation of the new English missal in England, the voices of dissent and concern continue to grow. Here, a liturgical scholar argues that, if the Missal is to be accepted with conviction, it is vital that its supporters make their voices heard.

The last few weeks have seen some significant and high-profile comments about the new English translation of the Missal. Vox Clara, initially conceived as a supervisory committee of bishops but seemingly now the dominant executive agency, met in Rome earlier this month. Its subsequent press release ended by expressing “satisfaction that the completion of the English translation of the Roman Missal has been welcomed throughout the English-speaking world”.

Meanwhile, in Britain, The Catholic Herald reported that church authorities in England and Wales “do not expect resistance to the new translation of the Roman Missal when it is introduced in September.” The acting secretary of the bishops’ liturgy commission was quoted as saying: “There are people who like it and people who don’t and some who aren’t so sure. But I think you’ll find that clergy are a fairly pragmatic group of people in the end …”

Yet elsewhere there is evidence of disquiet.

Read more of the discussion of the new English Translation of the Missal at the London Tablet.

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