The New English Translation of the Roman Missal:

The Players and The Processes

The Players

Vatican Council II (1962 – 1965)

Vatican Council II (1962 – 1965)

• 1963: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium)– REVISION of the liturgical books– REFORM of the liturgical texts and ceremonies– RENEWAL of the life of the Church

• The Consilium [for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy] creates an editio typica of each Roman Rite liturgical book

Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra Liturgia

• The Congregation of Rites / for Divine Worship [and the Discipline of the Sacraments] [CDW(ATDOTS)] officially publishes the editio typica of each Roman Rite liturgical book with papal approval indicating when it may and must be used

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Doctrine of the Sacraments

• The editio typica of each Roman Rite liturgical book is sent to each territorial bishops’ conference for translation into local vernacular(s) and adaptation to the prayer patterns of those local churches

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

• In the United States the practical work of bringing the vernacular translation[s] to deliberation and vote by the USCCB has been the purview of the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy (BCL)/United States [Bishops’] Committee on Divine Worship (USBCDW) which does much of its work through its Secretariat for Divine Worship

United States Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship

United States Bishops’ Secretariat for Divine Worship

• While Vatican II was still in session, territorial bishops’ conferences of the English-speaking world created the International Committee/Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) to coordinate the process of translation and adaptation of the member conferences

International Commission on English in the Liturgy

• ICEL produces a working translation of each editio typica of a Roman Rite liturgical book that the territorial bishops’ conferences are free to accept, modify, or reject.

• Eventually the territorial bishops’ conference submits its proposed vernacular translation and adaptation to the CDW[ADOTS] for recognitio.

• The CDW[ADOTS] may in turn accept, modify, or reject the territorial bishops’ conference proposal.

• When recognitio is granted, the vernacular translation and adaptation may be used in the territory designated from a date established by the territorial bishops’ conference.

• Vox Clara has been formed as an international committee to assist the Holy See, especially the CDW[ATDOTS], in 1) providing guidelines for the work of vernacular liturgical English translation in conformity with Liturgiam Authenticam and 2) in the review of territorial bishops’ conferences’ proposed translations for recognitio.

Vox Clara

The Process

Brief Chronology of the Process

• Sacrosanctum Concilium 1963 • Dec. 4, 1963 • Second Vatican Council promulgates “Sacrosanctum

Concilium” (“Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy”). This text, the first official text of the Council, called for the renewal of the liturgy and the reform of the liturgical books in order to promote the “full, conscious, and active participation” of the faithful in the liturgy of the Church. The fathers of the Council invited consideration of the use of the vernacular (the local language of the people), and in the years leading up to a new Roman Missal, it was determined that the vernacular could be used for the entire liturgy.

The Consilium is Formed - 1964 • Jan. 25, 1964 • Pope Paul VI, by issuing the Apostolic Letter, “Sacram Liturgiam” motu

proprio established the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. To facilitate the implementation of the reform of the Liturgy, Pope Paul VI established the Consilium, a task group of bishops and scholars, to undertake the work of implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. He stated: “[I]t seems evident that many prescriptions of the Constitution cannot be applied in a short period of time, especially since some rites must first be revised and new liturgical books prepared. In order that this work may be carried out with the necessary wisdom and prudence, we are establishing a special commission whose principal task will be to implement in the best possible way the prescriptions of the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy itself.”

ICEL Takes Shape – 1964

• April 1964 • International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)

takes shape. In October 1963, during one of the sessions of the Second Vatican Council, the bishops of 10 English-speaking countries (including the United States) agreed to form a mixed commission to aid in the work of the liturgical reform, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Other language groups, including French and German, form similar commissions. ICEL is formally established with the formation of its mandate as a commission for the preparation of English translations of liturgical texts.

Comme le Prévoit – 1969

• January 25, 1969 • Comme le Prévoit, Instruction on the translation of liturgical

texts for celebrations with a congregation. The Consilium, to prepare for the promulgation of the new Roman Missal, issued this text which contained guidelines for translators. The guiding principle of the document was “dynamic equivalency,” which means to translate basic thoughts rather than words. Those who use this principle say that they are aiming for a transfer of the same meaning from the original to the receptor language, but presented according to the characteristics of the receptor language.

Missale Romanum Promulgated – 1969

• April 3, 1969 • Missale Romanum, editio typica promulgated

by Pope Paul VI. Liturgical books are issued by the Holy See (the Vatican) as “typical editions,” the authoritative Latin texts which are used for the celebration of the Liturgy in Latin, or as the basis for translation into local (vernacular) languages, which must then be approved by the Holy See.

1969: Ordo Missae

• 1969: Ordo Missae– Sacred Congregation of Rites: “Ordine Missae”– “The Ordo Missae has been revised in keeping with

the directives of the Constitution on the Liturgy and has been approved by Pope Paul VI through the Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum, 3 April 1969. In virtue of an express mandate from the same Pope Paul, the Congregation of Rites promulgates this Ordo Missae, stipulating that its effective date is to be 30 November of this year, the first Sunday of Advent.

– Along with the Ordo Missae, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal has been issued; it will replace the following preliminaries of the present Roman Missal: Rubricae generales; Ritus servandus in celebratione et concelebratione Missae; De defectivus in celebratione Missae occurrentibus. It is further stipulated that the GIRM, which Paul VI likewise approved, also has 30 November 1969 as its effective date.”

– Paul VI: Missale Romanum– General Instruction of the Roman Missal (1st ed.)– Ordo Missae with people– Ordo Missae without people– Appendix: alternative texts– Chants occurring in the celebration of Mass

USA English Translation Approved - 1969

• English Translation of the Order of Mass Approved for use in the dioceses of the USA by United States bishops – 13 Nov. 1969

• Eight months after the publication of Missale Romanum, the bishops of the United States approve the translation of the Order of Mass which had been prepared by ICEL. The Order of Mass contains the “fixed” texts of the Mass: the basic outline and structure of the Mass, the people’s responses and acclamations, the Eucharistic Prayers, and the other prayers of the priest that remain the same in every Mass.

Order of Mass Confirmed – 1970

• Jan. 5, 1970 • Holy See confirms English translation of Order of Mass

for the Dioceses of the United States. After a translation of a liturgical text is approved by a Conference of Bishops, it must be confirmed by decree (called a recognitio) from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship [and the Discipline of the Sacraments]. Once a text receives the recognitio, the Conference of Bishops establishes a date when the text can and must be used in the Liturgy.

Missale Romanum 1970 editio typica

• 1970: Missale Romanum editio typica – [red = material from Ordo Missae 1969]– Sacred Congregation of Rites: Celebrationis eucharisticae– Paul VI: Missale Romanum– General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2nd ed.)– Norms for the Liturgical Year and General Roman

Calendar (with Paul VI: Mysterii Paschalis)– The Temporal Cycle (Advent / Christmastide / Lent / Holy

Week / Triduum / Eastertide / Ordinary Time / Solemnities of the Lord through the Year)

– Ordo Missae with people– Ordo Missae without people– Appendix: alternative texts

– Solemn Blessings at the end of Mass– Prayers over the People– Proper of Saints (January – December)– Commons (Dedication of a Church / Mary / Martyrs /

Pastors / Doctors of the Church / Virgins / Male and Female Saints)

– Ritual Masses (Christian Initiation / Ordination / Viaticum / Marriage / Consecration of Virgins / Religious Profession)

– Various Masses and Prayers (For the Church / For Governmental Issues / For Public Concerns / For Particular Needs)

– Votive Masses– Masses for the Dead

– Appendix (Order for blessing and sprinkling Holy water / sample General Intercessions Preparation for Mass / Thanksgiving after Mass / Chants occurring in the celebration of Mass / Indices)

U.S.A. Sacramentary Approved 1973

• November 12, 1973 • Complete text of the Sacramentary (The Roman

Missal) approved by the U.S. Bishops. After completing the text of the Order of Mass, ICEL and the Conferences of Bishops began translating the other prayers of the Roman Missal. After consultation on a draft in 1971, a provisional text containing prayers for Sundays and other feast days had been approved and published in 1972.

U.S.A. Sacramentary Confirmed 1974

• Feb. 4, 1974 • Sacramentary (The Roman Missal) confirmed

by the Holy See; text published in the United States. The Sacramentary is the large book used by the priest at the celebrant’s chair and at the altar, containing all the prayers of the Mass.

Missale Romanum Reissued 1975

• March 27, 1975 • Missale Romanum, editio typica altera

promulgated by Pope Paul VI. Only one year after the publication of the U.S. edition of the Roman Missal, the Holy See issued a revised authoritative Latin edition, the “second typical edition,” containing additional prayers and modifications of existing prayers and rubrics.

Missale Romanum 1975 editio typica altera

1975: Missale Romanum editio typica altera

• CDW: Cum Missale Romanum (27 March 1975)• “Since the Roman Missal must be reprinted, variations

and additions have been included in order that this new edition might be in accord with the documents published after the appearance of the first edition in 1970.

• In the General Instruction, the marginal numbers are unchanged, but a description of the liturgical function of acolyte and reader is inserted in place of the paragraphs that formerly dealt with the subdeacon (nos. 142-152).

• There is another change of some importance in the section of the Roman Missal that contains the ritual Masses and the Masses for various needs and occasions. Certain formularies have been completed by supplying entrance and communion antiphons.

• Texts not found in the first edition have also be added, namely, among the ritual Masses, texts for the Mass of Dedication of a Church and an Altar and for the Mass of Reconciliation; among votive Masses, texts for Masses of Mary, Mother of the Church and of the Most Holy Name of Mary.

• Some other, less important changes have been introduced in headings and rubrics so that they may better correspond to the words or expressions occurring in the new liturgical books.

• Pope Paul VI has approved this second edition of the Roman Missal by his authority and the Congregation for Divine Worship now issues it and declares it to be the editio typica.

• It will be the responsibility of the conferences of bishops to introduce into the respective vernacular editions the changes contained in this second edition of the Roman Missal.”

U.S.A. Sacramentary Second Edition 1985

• March 1, 1985 • Revised Sacramentary (The Roman Missal)

published in the U.S. This revised edition, based on the 1975 edition of the Missale Romanum, also included prayers for recently canonized saints such as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (feast day Jan. 4) and St. John Neumann (Jan. 5), as well as the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children and the Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation. Existing texts remained largely unchanged.

Sacramentary Revision Begins – 1987

• Fall 1987 • ICEL reports its work on a more thorough

revision of the English translation of the Missale Romanum, editio typica altera. A number of questions and observations had been made about the English translation of the Roman Missal, which had been in use for more than 10 years. Many bishops were asking for a thorough retranslation of the prayers.

U.S.A. Sacramentary Approved – 1996

• November 1996 • U.S. Bishops approve a revised edition of the

Sacramentary. After nearly 10 years of extensive study, consultation, and review, the texts prepared by ICEL, along with a number of particular adaptations for the Dioceses of the United States, were approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Holy See raised a number of questions about the work, but ultimately never approved the text because of its intention to promulgate a third edition of the Missale Romanum in observance of the Jubilee Year.

Missale Romanum Third Edition – 2000

• April 10, 2000 • Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia promulgated by Pope

John Paul II. Pope John Paul II issued the “third typical edition” of the Roman Missal during the Jubilee Year 2000. The Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) had been published in March 2000 as an introduction to the revised Missal. The ritual text would not be published until March 2002. (Due to errors of various types, a corrected edition was reprinted in 2008.) Once the full text of the Missale Romanum was available, the work of translating it into various languages would begin.

Missale Romanum 2002/2008 editio typica tertia

2002/2008: Missale romanum editio typica tertia (emendata)

• 2008 corrects spelling, grammatical and typographical errors in 2002 (e.g. “unum” in Apostles’ Creed as well as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed)

• Both include revised GIRM (5th ed.)• Three new dismissals appear in the Order of Mass: “Go,

proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord;” “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord with your (pl) life;” “Go in peace.”

• Certain saints’ designations left out in 2002 are restored in 2008• Vigil Mass formularies for Epiphany, Ascension and Pentecost

appear• Prayers over the People for each day of Lent appear

• Apostles’ Creed is recommended especially during Lent and Easter

• Layout of Masses for Various Needs and Occasions• Insertion of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (“Padre Pio”) (23 Sep) / St.

John Didacus Cuauhtlatoatzin (“Juan Diego”)(9 Dec) / Our Lady of Guadalupe (12 December) into the General Roman Calendar with proper collects

• Inclusion of Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation I and II + for Various Needs and Occasions in an Appendix to the Ordo Missae [NOT at the end of the book]

• Relegation of the Eucharistic Prayers for Children to a separate Book

• Emendations to Holy Week– http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/innews/012003.shtml– http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/innews/03042003.shtml

Liturgiam Authenticam – 2001 • March 28, 2001 • Liturgiam authenticam, Instruction on the use of vernacular languages

in the publication of the books of the Roman Liturgy. To guide the work of preparing translations of the revised Roman Missal, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issues new instructions for the translation of liturgical texts. The guiding principle for translation is expressed as “formal equivalency.” Liturgiam authenticam #20 states: “While it is permissible to arrange the wording, the syntax and the style in such a way as to prepare a flowing vernacular text suitable to the rhythm of popular prayer, the original text insofar as possible, must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner, without omissions or additions in terms of their content, and without paraphrases or glosses.”

Vox Clara Established – 2002

• April 2002 • Vox Clara Committee established. The Vatican

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments gathered bishops and consultants from English-speaking countries to assist in the review and approval of the English translation of the Roman Missal. The Vox Clara (“clear voice”) Committee has been meeting several times each year to review texts submitted to the Holy See for recognitio.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal Approved – 2002

• November 2002 • English translation of the General Instruction of

the Roman Missal approved by the USCCB; Confirmed by the Holy See March 17, 2003. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, containing the basic outline and instructions for the celebration of Mass, includes a number of adaptations for the Dioceses of the United States. It was published by USCCB Publishing in 2003.

ICEL Statutes Revised – 2003

• Sept. 15, 2003 • International Commission on English in the Liturgy

(ICEL) formally established by the Holy See as a “mixed commission” in accord with the principles of Liturgiam authenticam. ICEL had originally been established in 1963. Its statutes were revised in order to establish a formal relationship with the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

English Order of Mass Draft – 2004

• February 2004 • Draft translation of the Order of Mass presented to English-

speaking Conferences of Bishops. ICEL presented its first draft of the first section of the Roman Missal, the Order of Mass, for review and comments. Each section of the Missal would go through two drafts, the first of which (the “green book”) would undergo review and modification. The second draft (the “gray book”) would be presented for canonical vote by the Conferences of Bishops, and then submitted to the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for recognitio.

Order of Mass Approved – 2006

• June 15, 2006 • English translation of the Order of Mass approved

by the USCCB. After more than two years of review and consultation and three drafts, the English translation of the Order of Mass, along with a number of adaptations for the Dioceses of the United States, is approved. After the text of the Order of Mass was completed, each of the remaining 11 sections of the Roman Missal were presented in similar fashion.

Order of Mass Confirmed – 2008

• June 23, 2008 • English translation of the Order of Mass

confirmed by the Holy See. While the revised translation of the Order of Mass cannot yet be used in the celebration of the Mass, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments granted the recognitio in order that catechesis on the revised texts could begin and musical settings of the texts could be prepared.

U.S.A. Roman Missal Approved – 2009

• November 17, 2009 • Final segments of the Roman Missal (third edition) approved

by the U.S. Bishops. • Concluding a lengthy process that began with the publication

of the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia in 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gives its approval to the final sections of the English translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal. (Other sections were approved in November 2008 and June 2009.) While the Holy See prepares and approves a final text, a remote catechetical period is underway to prepare clergy and lay faithful in the United States to receive the new translation.

Where We Are Now

• Recognitio for 2010 English translation of Ordo Missae/3rd post-Vatican II edition of the Roman Missal granted

• To be used in dioceses of the United States beginning the First Sunday of Advent, 2011.

• Publishers are preparing the altar books, participation aids, hymnals and catechetical materials needed to prepare ourselves and our congregations for the changes

Possible Concerns

• Losing vision of Vatican II vs. Deepening insight into its work

• New, more dense translation, harder to understand vs. Enrichment in biblical and theological depth– “Strange” vs. “broader” vocabulary– Incomplete sentences vs. implied subordinate clauses– Grammatical errors vs. shift of person in collects– Untested texts vs. past opportunities– Demands preparation vs. source of mystagogy

• Losing common Christian texts vs. Strengthening Catholic identity

• More abstract God-language vs. More inclusive language for humanity

• Expense of supplying the new books• Other topics in the Church’s life of more

pressing concern