An Irish bishop involved with the commission tasked with translating the Roman Missal, has said that the changes in the prayer of the Church at first instance, will be quite difficult for both priests and people, but the introduction of the new translations will also provide opportunities for priests.“Any change in the public prayer of the Church is disruptive and irritating for priests and people, and so there needs to be preparation for the new project and an explanation of it,” said Bishop John Mc Areavey.
But Dr McAreavey, who is part of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), said the new missal would provide a chance for priests to look again at their own style of celebrating Mass.
“We can develop sloppy habits in our style of presiding at Mass. The introduction of the new translation provides an opportunity for a new catechesis of priests of all generations,” he said.
Among the “sloppy habits” cited by Dr McAreavey, was the practice of some priests of substituting their own words for the prayers of the Mass.
“The personality of the priest should never intrude to the point that people are aware of him,” said Dr McAreavey.
He distinguished between a priest putting his own stamp on a sermon, and putting his stamp on the prayers of the Church.
“The basic thing is that when a priest prays, he is praying in the name of the Lord or in the name of the people. Therefore there is a formality in that. The style of the presiding priest should not be so personal or unique as to have people leaving Mass thinking of Fr X and not the prayer of the Church," he added.
Just this week the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), sent the Bishops of its 11 member Conferences, the completed draft translation of the Roman Missal that was first published in Latin in 2002.
The Missal runs to over 1,300 pages.
Known as the “Green Book”, due to the colour of its cover, Bishops are being invited to comment on the draft before a final proposed version, which will be released as a “Grey Book”.
According to Bishop McAreavey, this translation represents a “fairly significant change of style because the translation done in the late 60s was done with an emphasis on intelligibility and accessibility.”
While agreeing that there was a gain in this approach, the bishop felt something was lost too - the “complexity, subtlety and richness of texts".
“The emphasis in the new translation is on fidelity to the original while also promoting texts that are pastorally accessible and intelligible and also relatively easy to proclaim.”
Articles in respected journals like The Tablet, have been critical of some of the new translations saying they are not “people friendly”, but Dr McAreavey disagrees.
“My feeling about the prayers is that the content doesn’t have to hit you in the face at the first praying, but over a long period, it moulds the faith of the Church.”
“It is particularly important that the new translation of the Mass captures and conveys the richness of the Roman Missal.
The bishops have been invited to consult whomever they please over the draft translation, and the Congregation for Divine Worship has also been invited to make its own comments on the new translation.
Bishop Philip Boyce, who is part of the Vox Clara, a consultative group for that congregation, said the new texts will be “much more faithful to the faith, and therefore much richer.”
The consultation process is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.
Once the final texts are approved, they will go into use in English-speaking churches all over the world.
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