Pope
Francis on Friday met with members of the International Commission on
English in the Liturgy telling them that the “fruits of their labours
had helped to form the prayer of countless Catholics.
Below is a translation of the Holy Father's Address to the “International Commission on English in the Liturgy” (ICEL)
My Brother Bishops,
Dear Friends,
I
welcome the members and staff of the International Commission on
English in the Liturgy as you gather in Rome to celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary of the Commission’s establishment. I thank Archbishop
Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, and a former President of ICEL, for
presenting you. Through you, I send greetings and the expression of my
gratitude to the Conferences of Bishops which you represent, and to the
consultors and personnel who cooperate in the ongoing work of the
Commission.
Founded as part of the implementation of the great
liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council’s
Constitution on the Divine Liturgy, ICEL was also one of the signs of
the spirit of episcopal collegiality which found expression in the
Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium,
22-25). The present anniversary is an occasion for giving thanks for
the work which the Commission has accomplished over the past fifty years
in providing English translations of the texts of the liturgy, but also
in advancing the study, understanding and appropriation of the Church’s
rich sacramental and euchological tradition.
The work of the
Commission has also contributed significantly to that conscious, active
and devout participation called for by the Council, a participation
which, as Pope Benedict XVI has rightly reminded us, needs to be
understood ever more deeply “on the basis of a greater awareness of the
mystery being celebrated and its relation to daily life” (Sacramentum Caritatis,
52). The fruits of your labours have not only helped to form the
prayer of countless Catholics, but have also contributed to the
understanding of the faith, the exercise of the common priesthood and
the renewal of the Church’s missionary outreach, all themes central to
the teaching of the Council.
Indeed, as Blessed John Paul II pointed
out, “for many people, the message of the Second Vatican Council was
perceived principally through the liturgical reform” (Vicesimus quintus annus, 12).
Dear
friends, last evening you celebrated a solemn Mass of thanksgiving at
the tomb of Saint Peter, beneath the great inscription which reads: Hinc una fides mundo refulget; hinc unitas sacerdotii exoritur.
By enabling the vast numbers of the Catholic faithful throughout the
world to pray in a common language, your Commission has helped to foster
the Church’s unity in faith and sacramental communion.
That unity and
communion, which has its origin in the Blessed Trinity, is one which
constantly reconciles and enhances the richness of diversity. May your
continuing efforts help to realize ever more fully the hope expressed by
Pope Paul VI in promulgating the Roman Missal: that “in the great
diversity of languages, a single prayer will rise as an acceptable
offering to our Father in heaven, through our high priest Jesus Christ,
in the Holy Spirit”.
To you, and to all associated with the work
of the Commission, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge
of abiding joy and peace in the Lord.