Fr Gerald O'Collins, SJ, made the call at a gathering of Auckland priests at Waipuna Lodge in Mt Wellington on August 24. Continue reading in NZ Catholic

Having been made aware of the fact that a spiral bound version of the new missal has been published by the Catholic Publications Centre (CPC), similar to the one in common use before the new official missal was published, the Bishops' Conference has once again stated that only the officially approved missal is to be used.

In his most recent newsletter to parish priests and church leaders the Archbishop of Wellington, John Dew, said, "Besides the fact that CPC do not have the copyright from ICEL to print these other Missals, they have also provided these contrary to the wishes and the instruction of the Bishops Conference."

Archbishop Dew said that the Bishops' Conference agreed that nothing was to be used other than the officially approved new missal. "Therefore, please note that in the Archdiocese the only Missal to be used is the formally approved Missal which came into use on 24th April."

"All Parish Churches and Mass Centres where Masses are celebrated regularly in the Archdiocese should have a copy of the Missal and Companion," he said.

Archbishop Dew said that if any one finds the purchase of the approved new missal to be a financial burden, they could contact him.

The Archbishop also suggested another smaller, more portable publication as being suitable for private use.

Source

• The Archdiocese of Wellington

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference has not set a day for national implementation of the new Roman Missal as yet, but they will be soon be informing people of a date that the new texts are to be in use by.

Wellington Archbishop John Dew, in his newsletter, thanked priests and leaders for their patience over what he said was an unavoidable delay while the printing error was corrected.

The new Roman Missal does not include any more new responses for the people to learn. However the traditional Our Father must be used now. The one that has been used in recent years may still be used for any other time of prayer, but not in the Mass.

Source:

• Archbishop Dew's Newsletter
• Image: Food for Thought

Because of our belief in one family in this big tent, we are loath to characterize disagreements as battles. Battles have winners and losers, and no one in the family should be known as a loser. (Historically, losers in church battles have been called schismatics and that is not a nice word to use among family.)

Yet the first Sunday in Advent, when we are gathered around the eucharistic table — what should be the greatest sign of our unity — many of us will feel depressed. We will feel like losers when we hear not the words that Jesus' blood "will be shed for you and for all" but that Jesus' blood "will be shed for you and for many."

This Sunday, Roman Catholics will use for the first time the third edition of the English-language version of the Roman Missal. The change from "for all" to "for many" is just one example of a multitude of changes we will hear and cringe at as we pray our way through this new liturgical year. The absence of even an attempt at inclusive language will hurt many in the congregation. Many of us will feel like a battle has been lost.

The scrimmages of this battle have been fought at many levels, from bishop conferences to parish halls. The official Vatican translators themselves have objected to heavy-handed edicts imposed from above. Resigning from the chairmanship of the music committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) in February, Benedictine Fr. Anthony Ruff wrote:

The forthcoming missal is but a part of a larger pattern of top-down impositions by a central authority that does not consider itself accountable to the larger church. When I think of how secretive the translation process was, how little consultation was done with priests or laity, how the Holy See allowed a small group to hijack the translation at the final stage, how unsatisfactory the final text is, how this text was imposed on national conferences of bishops in violation of their legitimate episcopal authority, how much deception and mischief have marked this process — and then when I think of Our Lord's teachings on service and love and unity ... I weep.

Continue reading Making do with a faulty translation

Image: Diocese of Saginaw

A chaplain from a university campus in Papua New Guinea says "We have more than 500 student teachers from all over PNG. We have Mass in English every day, and so I have been using the current English-language missal." He goes on to say he has not seen the new Missal yet and wonders how a missionary country such as PNG will be able to get the new missal.

"There is very little money here to buy these new missals and they are always very expensive. And secondly, with my students coming from all parts of PNG, they already know the responses to the 'old' English Mass very well, but come this Advent, no one will know it. And it will be very difficult for me year in and year out having to teach the students on the new responses, as lots of students come from very remote places and would not have been exposed to the new changes or new missal."

Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university, as offered some advice to the questioner

Read more

Source

• Zenit.org
• Image: Blog.al.com

The new translation of the Mass was scheduled for the first Sunday in Advent but has been postponed and the Bishops have advised people to continue to use the format of the Mass introduced last year until further notice.

In a letter written in 9 November the Bishops said:

"The printing process of the new Missals was completed last week. At first sight they were everything we had hoped for. Unfortunately closer inspection of individual copies [revealed] that unbeknown to the printer a technical flaw had occurred in the production process. The pages containing the Eucharistic prayers were printed on heavier paper because they have higher usage. We had stipulated that the pages of the Missal must lie flat when open. The pages on heavier paper do not lie flat, so celebrants would find themselves holding the pages down. This problem will not reduce with time and usage, so it is a serious flaw"

The letter says that all possibilities for fixing the flaw have been explored by but it cannot be fixed.

The New Zealand Bishops set a high standard for the printing of the books and are not prepared to accept anything less.

The only option is to reprint the Missals.

It is hoped that within 7 to 10 days the printer will be able to advise when the reprinted Missals will be ready.

Ireland's Catholic Bishops' Conference also had problems with their new Missals, which were recalled after distribution.

The printer accepted full responsibility for the errors which included faulty ribbons and an uneven standard of printing in some Missals.

Sources

• Circular letter re New Missal - November 2011 (PDF) - NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Food for Faith

"I must apologise for causing such apoplexy among our readers," said Mike - "and I'm gratified that some of the more recent comments, including several from priests, agree with me."

To read the original blog and Mike's subsequent response to his critics visit ucannews.com

Fr Sean McDonagh of Ireland's Association of Catholic priests said it was obvious from the language of the new missal that not a single woman had been consulted while it was being drawn up.

Critics say the new missal includes multiple uses of the use of man and meant to mean both men and women.

Fr McDonagh said it is regrettable priests had to fight a linguistic battle over inclusiveness when it should be taken for granted.

The first of many changes were introduced in Ireland last Sunday and despite criticism from priests, the Irish bishops have supported the new text.

The Irish Times reports reactions of the people to the new translation from Latin are mixed.

Sources

• Irish Times
• The Journal
• Catholic Living Today blog

This was the Novus Ordo - the new rite of the Mass. It incorporated features called for by the Council, including dialogue, the penitential rite, the prayer of the faithful, much more Scripture, and new Eucharistic prayers.

It kept the Pater Noster exactly as it was prayed before the Council. This became available in English translation in 1973.

That English translation has been revised and in 2011 we have begun praying a new translation of the Mass of Paul VI. One thing which will be the same in both translations is the text of the Our Father.

Ironically, since 1984 most New Zealand Catholics have been praying a more modern translation of that prayer.

The translators of the 1970s made a brave decision with respect to the Pater Noster. They did not introduce a new translation but chose to use the form of the Lord's Prayer that the Anglicans were praying throughout the English-speaking world.

Anglicans had been praying the Our Father in English since the Book of Common Prayer came out in 1662 with its text very close to that found in the Gospel of Matthew in the King James Bible (1611). In 1928, in a new edition of the Book of Common Prayer, they had modernised the text slightly ("which" in the first line became "who"; "in earth" became "on earth"; "them that trespass" became "those who trespass").

Anglicans also prayed a doxology at the end of the prayer, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever." This reflects very early liturgical practice. It appears in some ancient manuscript variations of the Gospel of Matthew and a similar doxology is attached to our other ancient witness to the Our Father, the second century text The Didache.

The Mass of Paul VI included this doxology, but separates it from the end of the Our Father by another prayer.

This prayer is called "the Embolism" and is an expansion of "deliver us from evil" influenced by Titus 2:13 "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus". This influence is seen more clearly in the newer translation.

So, for a time, English-speaking Christians prayed the prayer that Jesus taught in the same words, though the Catholics did not usually join in the doxology. In the decades since this ecumenical unity has broken down.

English has changed since 1661, the word 'trespass' has acquired a different sense from its then equivalence to 'sin'.

"Lead us not into temptation" does sound as if God is actively tempting us, rather than merely permitting it.

Different church communities introduced new translations of the Our Father.

In the 1980s an ecumenical group now called the English Language Liturgical Consultation offered to the Christian churches a modern English translation of the Lord's Prayer. This is the one that the New Zealand Catholic Dioceses, except Christchurch, permitted and encouraged in the Mass. This is what most NZ Catholics call 'the new Our Father'.

The hope of the ecumenical group was that this form of the prayer would be accepted world wide.

Their hope has not, so far, been fulfilled.

Many places are using the modern translation but it has not supplanted the traditional forms; it has not 'swept the field', and instead of restoring unity it has effectively added to the diversity.

The five New Zealand dioceses were almost alone in the Catholic Church in introducing the new Our Father. The vast majority of the English-speaking Christian world pray the 'old Our Father' - it is still the most successful ecumenical text.

This may be why the Congregation for Divine Worship did not accept the New Zealand Bishops' request that the new Our Father be part of the New Zealand Missal.

So, among all the new translations we will be hearing and praying in Advent of this year there is going to be one text that is far from new, and to be honest, is not a great translation. Its strength is its long history, its popularity and its familiarity to many Christians throughout the world.

Sources

• Marist Messenger (used with permission)