The Third Edition of the Roman Missal

If you follow liturgical news closely, you may be more or less aware that there is a new Roman Missal being translated into English (and many other languages) for use throughout the world. In fact, this week the United States Bishops are attending their annual June meeting in San Antonio and will discuss several portions of this Missal.

The Roman Missal is, essentially, what we currently refer to as the Sacramentary. Since the Second Vatican Council there have been three revisions of the Roman Missal, this most recent was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 2000, although the book itself did not appear in print until 2002. As in all universal Church ritual books, the original is composed and published entirely in Latin. From that Latin "typical edition," the vernacular translations are made. For the English-speaking world, the body charged with translating the Church's rituals is called The International Commission on English in the Liturgy, or ICEL.

Founded in 1963 (the same year as Vatican II's first document, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy), this "mixed commission" is made up of 11 bishops' conferences: Australia, Canada, England and Wales, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, and the United States of America. At its inception was the realization that cooperation made for good stewardship and the wealthier nations could assist with those nations with less resources.

Over the past decade, ICEL has come under a blistering attack from many sides regarding their translations (as well as original texts which they themselves composed). I have always found these attacks to be a bit unfair, since the texts still needed the approval of the national bishops' conferences and the recognitio (approval or ratification) by the Holy See.

At issue was the way that texts were translated. Prior to 2001 translators were guided by a document (Comme le prévoit, issued in 1969) which utilized a principle called "dynamic equivalency." The goal of dynamic equivalency (in a nutshell) is to translate a phrase into the same or similar phrase. This did not require (nor even promote) a word-by-word translation. Multiple sentences could be used in English where only one was used in Latin. Phrases could be omitted and word order changed. The goal was clarity and fidelity.

In 2001, the Congregation for Divine Worship issued a document called "Liturgiam Authenticam: On the Use of the Vernacular Languages in the Publication of Books of the Roman Liturgy." This is sometimes called "The Fifth Instruction 'for the Right Implementation on the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council.'" After an overview of some of the issues surrounding translation, the document states:

"...it now seems necessary to set forth anew, and in light of the maturing of experience, the principles of translation to be followed in future translations –whether they be entirely new undertakings or emendations of texts already in use –and to specify more clearly certain norms that have already been published, taking into account a number of questions and circumstances that have arisen in our own day." (No. 7)

This document rendered obsolete Comme le prévoit and the ensuing principle of dynamic equivalency. It called for a more literal translation, one that would account for each word and phrase; one that would maintain word order and Latin syntax; one that was more exalted and, some would say, less "pedestrian." It also restricted the ability of mixed commissions (ie. ICEL) from composing their own original texts or rearranging or reordering the contents of a liturgical book.

One other point of significant interest to those who pray in English: Liturgiam Authenticam also expressed a desire that one translation be used by each language group, to the extent possible. This means that whether one speaks the Queen's English, American English, or some other derivation, the translation will be essentially the same.

As you can imagine, a project such as this is an enormous task. However, the process is picking up momentum and its completion is in sight (perhaps in the next 14-18 months). We have devoted a page on our diocesan website to current (and authoritative) information on the new Missal. We are hopeful that these next months provide ample opportunity for liturgical catechesis and renewal.

More to come...