One of the surprises to come out of the Synod on Synodality was a call for better liturgy. The final report of the October 2023 session of the synod referred to “the widely reported need to make liturgical language more accessible to the faithful and more embodied in the diversity of cultures.” The English-speaking church Read more
The Catholic Church in New Zealand is setting its sights on introducing an inclusive lectionary for Mass. Improved translations for the opening and post-Communion prayers are also under consideration. The initiative was confirmed by Bishop Stephen Lowe, president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and the bishops’ representative on the International Commission on English Read more
Synodal feedback calls for reworking the current Roman Missal to provide better, more straightforward and accessible liturgical language. Sadly, this request reads as if this change were not already possible. It has been available to the New Zealand Church since September 3, 2017, when Pope Francis published Magnum Principium (The Great Principle). In Magnum Principium, Read more
A New Zealand liturgical theologian is sad the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference National Synodal Synthesis is calling for a new English translation of the Roman Missal. Dr Joe Grayland makes the comment in a comment and analysis piece in today’s CathNews. The National synodal synthesis calls for “liturgical language that is welcoming, inclusive, less misogynistic, Read more
Life is full of ironies. And life in the Church is no different. In fact, this past week we just witnessed a bit of irony that stretched right across the Atlantic Ocean, though most people seem to have missed it. On October 4, as English Archbishop Arthur Roche had just finished giving his first major Read more
Pope Francis, May 27, announced that British Archbishop, Arthur Roche (pictured) will be the new head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. (Liturgy Office.) Roche replaces controversial conservative Cardinal, Robert Sarah, whose resignation Pope Francis accepted on 20 February. The Vatican liturgy office is charged with overseeing the Catholic Read more
Jesus’ blood was poured out “per tutti” – “for all” rather than “per molti”, meaning “for many”, according to the new Italian Missal presented to Pope Francis on 28 August. The pope normally celebrates Mass in Italian. The approved Italian translation from Latin of the new Roman Missal comes nine years after the English version Read more
Msg Andrew Wadsworth (pictured), the executive director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) is defending his social media posts calling liturgical events at the Amazon Synod as “scenes of pagan worship”. “I, Andrew Raymond Wadsworth, do not wish to belong to the new idolatrous Pachamama Church currently being brought into being,” Read more
The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference want the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) to review the 1998 draft Roman Missal translation early next year. The conference’s president, Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn, told the NZ Catholic their request seeks to balance demand for use of the missal while ensuring “unity is preserved with Read more
There are reports that Pope Francis has set up a commission to review of Liturgiam Authenticam. This decree provided the principles that guided the recent translations of liturgical texts. The report in America Magazine states the commission will also examine what level of decentralisation is desirable in the church on matters such as this. But Read more