What If We Just Said Wait?

An invitation for a grassroots review of the new Roman Missal

A new edition (the third in English) of the “Roman Missal,” which includes all the texts prayed during Eucharistic liturgy, is about to be approved in translation for all English-speaking countries. This new translation is a much more literal translation from the Latin text, following recent directives for translations from the Vatican. However, the result is a less than satisfactory American English version than what we have been using in the First and Second English editions. The Worship Committee, our pastor, Fr. Jeff, and the Parish Pastoral Council, are very concerned about the proposed new translations. We invite you to look over the examples posted on the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which you can access by clicking here. 

“What if we just said wait? The case for a grass-roots review of the new Roman Missal,”  is the title of an article in the Dec. 14, 2009 issue of America magazine, by Fr. Michael G. Ryan. Fr. Ryan has been pastor of St. James Cathedral in Seattle since 1988 and serves on the board of the national Cathedral Ministry Conference. He concluded his article with this proposal:

Why not let the priests who are on the front lines and the laypeople ... have some say in how they are to pray? If you think the idea has merit, I invite you to log on to the Web site www.whatifwejustsaidwait.org and make your voice heard. If our bishops know the depth of our concern, perhaps they will not feel so alone.

Fr. Jeff, the Worship Committee, and Parish Pastoral Council believe it is our responsibility and service to the larger church to express our serious concerns and join in offering constructive solutions. We invite you to check out the “What if we just said wait” website, where you will find their statement of concern and links to other reference materials. If you share these concerns, please sign the proposal to delay the implementation and initiate a pilot program of the new translation.

Here is their STATEMENT OF CONCERN:

We are very concerned about the proposed new translations of the Roman Missal. We believe that simply imposing them on our people – even after a program of preparation – will have an adverse effect on our prayer and cause serious division in our communities.

We are convinced that adopting translations that are highly controversial, and which leaders among our bishops as well as many highly respected liturgists and linguists consider to be seriously flawed, will be a grave mistake.

For this reason we earnestly implore the bishops of the English-speaking world to undertake a pilot program by which the new translations – after a careful program of catechesis – can be introduced into some carefully selected parishes and communities throughout the English-speaking world for a period of one (liturgical) year, after which they can be objectively evaluated.

We are convinced that this approach will address the concerns of those many bishops who feel that they have lost their voice in this matter and that it will also give a voice to the People of God whose prayer is at stake and who accordingly have the most to gain or lose by the translations.

We realize that a pilot project of this kind is unprecedented, but so is the process by which these translations have been approved.

If you share our concerns, you can go to the website and sign the international petition at any time: www.whatifwejustsaidwait.org

Here are a few examples of the changes you can view on the USCCB website:

An example of the Priest’s prayers:

Nicene Creed: