It is of critical importance for the whole Church that we have a good English translation of the 2002 Missale Romanum.
In the February Origins, the official publication of the USCCB, there is news from the Bishops Committee on Divine Worship. There is a projected time table for the completion of various stages relating to the new translation of the 2002 Missale Romanum.
Frankly, I find the time table to be overly deliberate. This is too important a matter to be fooling around with for so long.
Here is some accompanying text with my emphases and comments:
Translation Timetable of the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia
In November 2007, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) presented the “Green Book” translation of the Appendices of the Roman Missal, which represents the final section of the draft translation of
the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, to the Bishops of the member conferences. At that time, ICEL shared its plan to complete its work in the process of translation by sending the remaining “Gray Books” to the Bishops by the end of 2008. With those dates in mind, the Secretariat of Divine Worship [probably of the USCCB’s BCDW and not the CDWDS in Rome] proposed a tentative schedule for the U.S. Bishops’ approval of the translation of the Roman Missal. The Committee on Divine Worship discussed and approved this tentative timeline at its meeting on January 30, 2008. The proposed dates for votes by the USCCB are subject to the approval of the Administrative Committee, which makes the final decisions about the agenda for the plenary meetings of the Bishops. Once the Committee on Divine Worship decides to propose a particular text for canonical vote by the bishops, it must adhere to Conference deadlines for the submission of material to the Administrative Committee. The shaded areas are all tentative and are subject to change based on ICEL’s completion of material as well as the workload of both the Committee on Divine Worship and the full body of Bishops.Once each section of the Missal has been approved by two-thirds of the Latin Rite members of the USCCB in a canonical vote, it must be submitted to the Holy See for confirmation by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. To date, only the Order of Mass I has been submitted; we still await its confirmation.
I know that the CDWDS is reviewing the work. When I was in Rome in February, I was told at the Congregation what was going on. The word "consubstantial" came up alot.
By "coincidence" the newsletter mentions this too.
One should not be surprised, therefore, to find as a final translation “And with your spirit.” Nor would it be surprising to find after the words “what I have failed to do” of the Confiteor, an insertion: “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”
With reference to the profession of faith, LA no. 65 states:
By means of the Creed (Symbolum) or Profession of Faith, the whole gathered People of God respond to the word of God proclaimed in the Sacred Scriptures and expounded in the homily, recalling and confessing the great mysteries of the faith by means of a formula approved for liturgical use. The Creed is to be translated according to the precise wording that the tradition of the Latin Church has bestowed upon it, including the use of the first person singular by which is clearly made manifest that “the confession of faith is handed down in the Creed, as it were, as coming from the person of the whole Church, united by means of Faith.” In addition, the expression carnis resurrectionem is to be translated literally wherever the Apostles’ Creed is prescribed or may be used in the Liturgy.
The translation of the Ordo Missæ approved by the Latin Church members of the USCCB, at its June 15, 2006 plenary meeting, has the opening words “I believe.” In addition, at three points in the Creed, the Bishops recommended that the action of the gathered assembly be clarified by the restatement of these opening words:
· “And in one Lord Jesus Christ” becomes “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ”;
· “And in the Holy Spirit” becomes “I believe in the Holy Spirit”; and
· “And one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” becomes “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic
Church.”The bishops also addressed the translation of consubstanialem. Since 1970, this important theological term has been rendered in the United States of America as “one in being.” The bishops voted to retain this translation, instead of adopting the ICEL rendering of “consubstantial.” [That was one of the last shots from when Bp. Trautman was head of the Committee. This isn’t going to fly in Rome.] Finally, the rendering of “He suffered death and was buried” was changed to “He suffered, died, and was buried.” With reference to the expression carnis resurrectionem, the Bishops approved the translation “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.”
It is to be kept in mind, however, that all of these texts have been submitted to Rome for recognitio. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will also have to take into consideration the translations that have been submitted by other Conferences of Bishops. Number 87 of LA indicates, “It is recommended that there be a single translation of the liturgical books for each vernacular language.”
