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As a result of the recently released Cloyne Report on the Church's response to the Irish clerical abuse scandal, it is possible that the Pope's scheduled visit to Ireland may be cancelled.
Papal visit now looks doomed after Cloyne
backlash hits Church Read the articles, “Resident Evil” and “Resident Holiness” at http://tonyequale.wordpress.com/. An excerpt from “Resident Holiness.”“The catholic church cannot be reformed; it needs to be restructured. Whether you look at it doctrinally, spiritually, socially, morally or politically the Catholic Church has structural defects that are fatal. They are beyond ‘adjustment.’” _______________________________ It is not only a translation issue; it is also an authority issue. And that may be the most problematic element in this reform process. Published in its entirety on Commonweal magazine site (http://commonwealmagazine.org). It Doesn’t Sing: The Trouble with the New Roman Missal Rita Ferrone Beginning in Advent of this year, the language of the Mass will be very different. A new translation of the Roman Missal—the book of prayers used in the Mass—will be put into use in all Catholic churches in the English-speaking world. Some who have read the new prayers are pleased with the changes. Others are gravely concerned. In recent months, priests in Ireland, Australia, the United States, and elsewhere have voiced objections, saying this translation is not what the church needs—and that it will be divisive. What is it about the new translation that has caused such an uproar? We come to you, Father, with praise and thanksgiving, through Jesus Christ your Son. Through him we ask you to accept and bless + these gifts we offer you in sacrifice. We offer them for your holy catholic Church....
So begins the first Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Missal as it has been prayed by English-speaking Catholics since 1973. When the new Missal goes into effect in November, Catholics throughout the English-speaking world will hear these words instead: To you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and petition through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord: That you accept and bless + these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices which we offer you firstly for your holy Catholic Church.
The current translation is simple and direct. It follows the speech patterns and rhythms of contemporary spoken English. It flows easily off the tongue. Its meaning is clear. The new translation, on the other hand, is mannered and complex. We arrive at the subject of the sentence only after we have heard the dative “to you”; the conjunction “therefore”; a superlative adjective “most merciful”; and a noun in apposition, “Father.” The new translation is wordy. In place of “these gifts,” we offer “these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices.”
Having offered these gifts, offerings, holy and unblemished sacrifices firstly for the church, you might be thinking there is a secondly coming along in a paragraph or two. If so, you would be wrong. There is no secondly. So what does firstly mean in this context? It’s not clear that it means anything at all.
Different words, same prayer? Both are translations of the same Latin text, yet the results are quite different. Change the words and you change the prayer.
Clarity and intelligibility were principles of liturgical renewal specifically named by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Until 2001, those who translated liturgical texts into English placed a high priority on the council’s mandate for clarity and intelligibility. Those were essential guiding principles of liturgical reform, not secondary considerations.
Since the publication of the new Vatican instruction on translation Liturgiam authenticam in 2001, however, other principles are deemed more important. They include: the exact rendering of each word and expression of the Latin, the use of sacral vocabulary remote from ordinary speech, and reproduction of the syntax of the Latin original whenever possible. When a choice must be made, those principles trump the principles of clarity and intelligibility. The result has been, not surprisingly, a translation that is filled with expressions not easily understood by English speakers. It has resulted in prayers that are long-winded, pointlessly complex, hard to proclaim, and difficult to understand.
… Yes, we can get used to the new translation of the Roman Missal. But we shouldn’t. The church can do better, and deserves better, than this. |