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"The Lord be with you."

"And also with you."

For Catholics, the language of the Mass is a familiar guide, pointing the way to spiritual realities unlocked through participation in the sacred ritual.

That guide is likely to be a bit less familiar by the end of the year. The language that English-speaking Catholics heard for much of the past 40 years - based on post-Vatican II translation of Latin texts into familiar English usage - is expected to change.

A new translation of the Roman Missal, emphasizing a more literal and, some say, reverential approach to the Latin original, is scheduled to be introduced.

For example, Catholics will greet the priest at Mass invoking, "The Lord be with you," with, "and with your spirit" - a closer literal translation of what Catholics who were raised before the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s will remember as the Latin phrase "et cum spiritu tuo."

In the familiar recitation of the Creed, Catholics will no longer say, according to the new translation, that Jesus was "one in being" with the Father.

Instead, the new translation will describe this mystical relationship as "consubstantial" - a word rarely heard in modern English but, according to translators, one that better reflects the meaning of the original Latin text. (For more examples, see sidebar).

The Albany Diocese is now preparing for the expected changes, noted Elizabeth Simcoe, chancellor for pastoral services. The revisions have been approved by the U.S. bishops and a committee in Rome is expected to produce a final document by April.

The Albany Diocese has been chosen as one of 20 sites around the country to hold workshops in October to prepare priests and catechists for the newly-translated Roman Missal. Pending final approval from the Vatican it will be implemented nationally.

The workshops will focus on "helping people become more comfortable with the text" to better educate churchgoers.

Mrs. Simcoe said that Cath-olics should notice, in particular, changes in the language of the Creed and the Gloria.

Education - called "catechesis" in Church circles - is essential in implementing the changes, noted Rev. Richard Fragomeni, a priest of the Albany Diocese and professor of liturgy and preaching at the Chicago Theological Union.

Haste, slowly
"Yes, it is going to happen," Father Fragomeni said - but that doesn't necessarily mean implementation will happen quickly, since the proposed changes, touching as they do on the central act of Catholic worship, have generated controversy.

One group, based in the Archdiocese of Seattle, has organized a web petition campaign. Dubbing itself, "What If We Just Said Wait?" the group proposes that the changes be implemented slowly, with pilot projects around the country.

"We believe that simply imposing this on our people - even after a period of preparation - will have a divisive effect" and "cause serious division in our communities," the petition reads.

Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chair of the U.S. bishops' liturgy committee, argued that the "slavishly literal" language in the new translation lacks ease for modern English speakers and is ungrammatical.

Groups taking another side in what has been described as the Church's "liturgy wars" have also made their presence felt online. The "New Liturgical Movement" recently posted, with favorable comment, a talk delivered in January by Rev. Guido Marini, papal master of ceremonies, during a clergy conference in Rome marking the Year for Priests.

Heads scratched
In that talk, Msgr. Marini focused on the need for "continuity" in the Church's liturgy and said it was "misleading" to view the Mass as divided between pre- and post-Vatican II elements.

While not touching directly on the English language controversy, Msgr. Marini questioned whether the Mass should be immediately understandable.

"Are we truly certain that...an active participation [in the Mass] consists in rendering everything to the greatest extent possible immediately comprehensible? May it not be the case that entering into God's mystery might be facilitated and sometimes even better accompanied by that which touches principally on the heart?" he said.

One concern of the Vatican, noted those familiar with the issue, is the power of English in the modern world. Many translators of liturgy texts used by growing numbers of Catholics in Africa and Asia are unfamiliar with Latin, and work instead with English texts. That raises concerns about the need to translate from texts as close to the original Latin as possible.

Formal or dynamic
Father Fragomeni noted that the new missal takes a different view of translation than that undertaken by the scholars in the 1970s, who relied upon the theory of "dynamic equivalency." They were seeking, he said, an approach based upon a desire for original Latin texts "to come alive in the vernacular."

The new translation was made according to Vatican guidelines that stipulated an approach of "formal equivalence" between the Latin and the vernacular. What critics call stilted English, for example, promulgators call accurate and reverent or even inspirational.

Pope Benedict XVI has often stated that problems in the Church can be traced to problems in its liturgies.

Father Fragomeni expects that some Catholics may not notice the changes all that much, particularly if their worship is focused upon the communal and ritual action of the Mass. In any case, he believes that the catechesis surrounding the new translation could provide an opportunity for Catholics to learn more about the meaning behind the ritual.

Rev. Paul Turner, a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, is a Latin scholar who worked in meetings where the new text was developed.

"We want the liturgy to be understood," he said in an article distributed by the U.S. bishops' communication office explaining the new translation. "But those who pray it have to know that it is the prayer being brought to us by tradition."

Get used to it
Father Turner cautioned against the language discussion being swept up in the "liturgy wars" that have divided the Church in the past few decades, pitting traditionalists against progressives.

"It's not that the translation we have is wrong or heretical. But what we gained in fluidity [in English] we lost in nuance [from the Latin]," he said.

Many English speakers may be unfamiliar with words such as "ineffable" or "consubstantial," both used in the new missal. But with repeated use, Father Turner said that English speakers will become familiar with the new texts.

He noted that Christians regularly recite the Lord's Prayer with its famous phrase, "hallowed be thy name." The word "hallowed" is rarely used in modern English, but Christians have been able to grasp the concept via regular recitation.

Father Fragomeni said the revision will be judged by its fruits, namely what impact it has on the faith lives of English-speaking Catholics.

"What increases reverence in people?" he asked. "Does it mean a deeper reverence for life? for the poor? for people alienated in the world? Or is it simply a reverence for ritual actions?"

(Christopher D. Ringwald contributed to this story.)

(01/21/10)



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