Posted on 05/12/2004 7:20:18 PM PDT by sidewalk
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Despite hopes that English-speaking Catholics soon would have a new translation of Mass prayers, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles said he and many other bishops believe the current draft needs major work.
An English draft of the "Ordo Missae," or Order of the Mass, was approved by the episcopal board of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy in January, and copies were sent to every Latin-rite bishop in the United States and other English-speaking countries.
"I felt that there are a few improvements that are very helpful, but the effort to translate every Latin word into English has not been successful," the cardinal said in a May 11 interview with Catholic News Service.
The cardinal was at the Vatican for his "ad limina" visit, which bishops make every five years to report on the status of their dioceses and to hold consultations with Vatican officials.
One of the topics visiting U.S. bishops have been raising with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments is the ongoing effort to create English translations of Latin Mass prayers in a way that is faithful to the Latin and can be understood and proclaimed.
The Tablet, a London-based Catholic weekly, reported May 8 that the bishops of England and Wales were critical of the proposed Order of the Mass, particularly because of "lengthy sentences, poor syntax and archaic language."
In their plenary meeting May 11, the bishops of Australia voted to return the draft to ICEL for revision for similar reasons.
Cardinal Mahony said, "This is obviously considered by everybody as a first draft."
The Order of the Mass includes the prayers that are used at every Mass such as the Gloria, the Nicene Creed and the eucharistic prayers. It does not include all of the prayers that change each week during the liturgical year.
The new text is the first English translation of Mass prayers resulting from the 2002 publication of the third edition of the Roman Missal in Latin and from new translation rules contained in the 2001 Vatican instruction, "Liturgiam Authenticam" ("The Authentic Liturgy").
Cardinal Mahony said he gave copies of the draft translation to members of his priests' council and asked them to "read it out loud" with members of their parish liturgy committees.
Because the prayers are meant to be proclaimed, he said, "you can only capture whether it works or doesn't work in hearing it out loud."
"Most of the responses I got back were quite negative," Cardinal Mahony said.
The cardinal said there is an obvious "tension" between the principles enunciated in the 2001 Vatican document on translation and the needs of the priests and people.
"We simply cannot have a translation that is labored and is not easily proclaimed or understood," he said.
"The danger is that that kind of new Roman Missal, if it were approved in such a stilted fashion, would simply not be used," he said.
The cardinal said he was afraid that priests simply would continue using the old translation, "which, of course, is not helpful either."
Cardinal Mahony said he agreed with several bishops who have said the parts of the Mass recited by the entire congregation should not be changed.
"Following the (clerical sex abuse) scandal," he said, "the last thing our people need is to now disrupt the liturgy, which has been a source of nourishment and strength during this difficult journey."
The cardinal said he was in favor of changes "that are obviously an improvement, not just a change to be transliteral."
Cardinal Mahony predicted "it will reach a point where someone will have to reconcile these documents" on translation with the need to "help the local churches express the faith in the language as they use it."
"What is the more important value? Is the more important value to have a more precise translation of Latin into English or is it more important to have a translation that helps people's prayer be nourished and deepened? That, to me, is the more important question," the cardinal said.
"I think that if we are going to make a change to have a Roman Missal that will be with us for generations, let's take our time; let's do it well; let's make sure that it really is an improvement," he said.
But he lived in difficult times - with threats of burning at the stake from both sides of the great controversy. Not everyone can face the possibility of disgrace and a traitor's death with the courage of St. Thomas More. And Cranmer died bravely and with panache, which I somehow don't see Mahoney doing.
Rome can suggest anything.
Why doesn't AmChurch just declare a formal schism already. Instead of just being in a de-facto one.
The dungeon is fully stocked and ready for action.
The original thread on the draft new missal is here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1127329/posts
I took all the jpeg images and created a single pdf for easy off-line viewing. The pdf is rather larger --- 2.5mb but it can be downloaded from my site here:
http://home.comcast.net/~cebadams/ICEL-Translation.pdf
Let everyone note how kind and wonderful you are, notwithstanding.
You haven't a clue, bub.
Just wait and see if the translation is approved by Rome. We do want it to be approved by Rome, don't we?
Note this:
If the American, Australian, and UK bishops object to the translation, the translation will be redone.
It seems Cardinal George has focused on things he can change, such as reform of the Archdiocean seminary, and starting a quasi traditional order(that is ordaining tow priests next week), but the process is slow.
The Bishop I really feel sorry for is Bp. Vingeron of Oakland. He inherrited the equivlent of a house that has been so trashed for so long that even beginning to clean it will be a task taking years.
Cucumber sandwiches under construction.
One note, though. I still think a good tablespoon of fresh horseradish would do wonders. Although, it won't be ready to be harvested until about August. I have the family recipe. HOT HOT HOT
In this case, it's not just American, but Brit, and Aussie bishops, who are questioning the translation.
Your argument is with the West, ninenot.
"Anyone remember Cardinal Mahony's "document on the Eucharist" about which Mother Angelica had a thing or two to say a while back?"
Yes, I do, and it was a dreadful thing. Among other things, Mahony called for using "bread that is bread to all the senses" (invalid matter, anyone?)
(And a 6th grader could have written a better sentence.)
He also labored to explain the meaning of Holy Communion with this bizarre construction,
"The Body of Christ comes forward to receive the Body of Christ."
As if we members of the Mystical Body were the same thing as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ!
I can see why Mother Angelica had a fit over this pile of gibberish.
And the only reference to the Real Presence throughout the entire long document (these documents are ALWAYS long and tedious) was a footnote mentioning the doctrine of Transubstantiation. And he only put that in the second, revised version, after all the furor caused by the first draft.
There's never a mention of the Holy Sacrifice, only the "liturgy". Everything is "liturgy" these days.
"There's never a mention of the Holy Sacrifice, only the "liturgy". "
"The Body of Christ comes forward to receive the Body of Christ."
Its not so much that these deviant bishops don't like the translation, it's that they don't like the Catholic Mass and want to write their own. Their mass would be free as much as possible from concepts such as Sacrifice and Real Presence and would worship the "assembly" rather than the Deity.
No wonder Mel Gibson has his own chapel. God save us all from these deviant bishops.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.