New Catholic Missal Meets Resistance From Prominent American Liturgist

Anthony Ruff, OSB, a prominent liturgical scholar and professor of liturgy at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., has published an open letter to the U.S. bishops in which he publicly withdraws from all diocesan speaking engagements promoting the new translation of the Roman Missal, set to be implemented this year. He calls the text "unsatisfactory" and laments that the Vatican has allowed a small group to "hijack" the translation. Fr. Ruff says, "I have concluded that I cannot promote the new missal translation with integrity. I'm sure bishops want a speaker who can put the new missal in a positive light, and that would require me to say things I do not believe." His letter was written with the approval of his Benedictine superiors.

He continues: "The forthcoming missal is but a part of a larger pattern of top-down impositions by a central authority that does not consider itself accountable to the larger church. When I think of how secretive the translation process was, how little consultation was done with priests or laity, how the Holy See allowed a small group to hijack the translation at the final stage, how unsatisfactory the final text is, how this text was imposed on national conferences of bishops in violation of their legitimate episcopal authority, how much deception and mischief have marked this process -- and then when I think of Our Lord's teachings on service and love and unity ... I weep."

His decision comes on the heels of several liturgists expressing concers about the new translation during a meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the Catholic Academy of Liturgy, some of whom are quoted in the America piece.

You can read the full story from America Magazine here.

The full text of Father Ruff's open letter to the bishops is here.

Comments

[Dbos]

01:20 AM on 02/08/2011

I pray for all the bishops to become christians and leave repuglicanism behind.

[been2there]

10:12 PM on 02/07/2011

I bet the new missal promotes social justice.

[Cranmer1549]

02:04 PM on 02/07/2011

The Vatican is simply trying to backtrack on the Vatican II reforms from the 1960's. This is not some innocent "cleaning up" of the translation. This is another way that the Vatican is reinforcing its authority by forcibly changing the words that come out of the mouths of the faithful every Sunday.

[Carroll27]

04:43 PM on 02/07/2011

Out of curiosity, how do you know? I mean, how do you know that this isn't a return to more ancient language? Do Episcopalians see conspiracies everywhere now?

Perhaps you could point to an example ... just one ... where the new language that helps the Vatican "reinforce" its authority"?

[Defender of Truth]

05:38 PM on 02/07/2011

Not so. The new translation is a more accurate translation from the Latin. It is not "forcibly changing the words".

[Dbos]

01:08 AM on 02/08/2011

Please explain . he's an expert

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

09:41 AM on 02/07/2011

The Episcopal Church has 2 versions of the Liturgy. One traditional and one contemporary. I love both. There are some rumblings about a new BCP but I think the Traditional will stand side by side with any new versions. To update the language is fine as long as there is a choice to continue using the traditional.

[Carroll27]

04:44 PM on 02/07/2011

Every time there's an article on Catholicism, Episcopalians pop up to say how great it is there ... yeah, so great that there are schisms daily. Perhaps you should put your own house in order before trying to convert new people.

[Cranmer1549]

04:52 PM on 02/07/2011

Schisms daily? In case you haven't noticed, your illustrious church has been having schisms since 1054 CE.

[ManuOB1]

11:03 AM on 02/06/2011

Actually, after the US bishops approved the "final" translation, some liturgy terrorists in Rome made 10,000 changes--seven per page!

[Carroll27]

04:44 PM on 02/07/2011

Please to explain what a liturgy terrorist is and what the act of terror actually is.

[Defender of Truth]

05:41 PM on 02/07/2011

They have no idea. They just want to shout. Perhaps they should take to heart the saying "It is better to say nothing and to be thought a fool than to open it and prove it."

[Titanshanks]

11:58 PM on 02/05/2011

Oh, this story only made it up because someone thought that Catholic Missal sounded dirty.

[Indigo1941]

06:20 PM on 02/05/2011

Wow! What a passionate discussion this is, even for me and I walked away 40 years ago. The issues of translation put me in mind of what the Anglican/Episcopalian community struggle with in their translations. Some like the new Book of Common Prayer, some prefer the Tudor Service.

Fortuantely, blessed with British-like reserve, they often resort to humo(u)r:
One sample: Question: How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: It takes a janitor to change the light bulb and a chancel full of elderly Episcopalians to talk about how much nicer the old one was.

Romans relax! If you don't like what's happening, walk away.

[Hysterian68]

02:27 AM on 02/06/2011

Catholics resent having to learn new words, such as "consubstantial". Those toughies heard in the eucharistic liturgy mean they have to go look it up in the dictionary.

As for the sacral language of Thomas Cranmer, they can go to the Anglican or Anglican Use liturgy to hear it. It may prove to be more popular in time than the Latin Mass ever was.

[Carroll27]

04:45 PM on 02/07/2011

I'm a Catholic. I don't resent it. I like the return to more ancient language.

[Defender of Truth]

05:42 PM on 02/07/2011

Can't walk away from the Church founder by Christ.

[Indigo1941]

09:35 PM on 02/07/2011

Is that a joke?

[edgraham]

01:29 PM on 02/08/2011

The church was founded many years after Christ death, and has been evolving away from many things that Christ may have said. I don't have the courage to tell my wife this. She says, "Christ founded my church.." She was told this when very young, and has never felt the need to actually read any church history.

If Christ ever really lived, he didn't live long enough to found the church.

[venerablebean]

04:52 PM on 02/05/2011

Someone stated changes will alienate people because this isn't American English. The Church is "the kingdom of heaven" and has her own language. One change is "And with your spirit" rather than "and also with you".

St. John Chrysostom (347-407), Bishop of Constantinople addresses this.

“If the Holy Spirit were not in our Bishop when he gave the peace to all shortly before ascending to the Altar to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, you would not have replied to him all together, “And with thy spirit.” This is why you reply with this expression not only when he ascends to the sanctuary, or when he preaches to you, or when he prays for you, but when he stands at the holy Altar, when he is about to offer the Holy Eucharist. You don't partake of the offerings until he has prayed for you the grace from the Lord, and you have answered him, “And with thy spirit,” reminding yourselves that he who is here does nothing of his own power, nor are the offered gifts the work of human nature, but the grace of the Holy Spirit present and hovering over all things which makes present to us the mystic sacrifice.”

The faith that is being confirmed is that the priest by means of his ordination is uniquely configured to Christ and that he is offering the Holy Eucharist as Christ intends, "in the person of Christ" and never by his own resources or worthiness or anything else.

[Defender of Truth]

05:43 PM on 02/07/2011

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[venerablebean]

04:28 PM on 02/05/2011

Could anything be worse than what they have now? UGH! The once beautiful collects now read in the current American English version like the Monty Python skit. "Oh God, you are so... BIG!" Yes, it needed to be translated into the "language of the people" but WHAT people? It's just awful, and banal.

[Lou Kavar]

02:28 PM on 02/05/2011

From samples I've read of this new translation, I believe the implementation will do an outstanding job of alienating more American Catholics from their church. I've come to conclude that the strategic plan of the Catholic Church in America is to see how many members can be run off before the entire organization collapses from top-heavy weight. This next step should help to make people find Sunday Mass more foreign by using English in a way no one does in the United States.

[Ioan Lightoller]

04:12 PM on 02/05/2011

Fanned and faved. Bennie doesn't care... he just wants the church to bow down to papal authority...he doesn't care how many people are alienated as long as he has a few who will worship and obey him.

[Seaniebhoy]

08:21 AM on 02/07/2011

Not just America either

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12366734

[Indigo1941]

06:07 PM on 02/05/2011

I believe you. I expected the translation to be some weird form of Jersey Shore-glish but I can readily visualize it turning up in something approximating an Aspberger's-like variation on Euro-glish.
.

[Carroll27]

11:53 PM on 02/04/2011

Oh right. America Magazine. Where the most liberal of Catholics go to die. Chuckle.

[Hysterian68]

05:19 PM on 02/05/2011

I know thinking for oneself isn't a trade mark of Catholicism, but "America Magazine" at least gives you the benefit of the doubt. It certainly beats "The Wanderer" and "Our Sunday Visitor" --pablum for brain dead popish sheep. On the scale of "The National Enquirer" for the uninquiring.

[Gregj]

06:06 PM on 02/04/2011

....and then when I think of Our Lord's teachings on how we are to treat children...I Weep.

And when I see priests whom as a group remain quiet when 14000 children are affected by pedophile clergy in Ireland and then told not to be forthcoming by the vatican. And the priests remain silent but then when they are not asked about missal changes and they speak up. ...I weep.

[BabyMed]

07:53 PM on 02/05/2011

Greg
There cannot be a Catholic conversation anywhere were someone comes and throws massive Priest molestations.

I know it happened because I saw it on the news and read about it in papers...BUT I am 52 years old and I have raised 4 children up in the Catholic Church and placed them in Catholic schools 2 through Catholic Universities. I have never known a single person or personally heard of one instance (other than the media and here) where someone was molested. I have lived in 3 Countries and 5 different states and in this state 3 different Counties. My kids Universities are in different States...

I know it has happened...because of the media and I do not want to make it any less monsterous than it is...because I would have gone blastic if it happened to one of my children.
BUT...we have to remember the Catholic Church is HUGE it has a reported 2 billion members...
when something is this large...stuff happens.
Look at these much smaller churches that have pastors that preach against gay sex while having gay sex... PREISTS are human...just like Obama's cabinet that had all those Tax issues....Because they don't pay their income tax like the rest of us didn't stop them from being top advisors to the most powerful leader in the world, Right?

So stick to the topic..

[Hysterian68]

02:35 AM on 02/06/2011

BUT...we have to remember the Catholic Church is HUGE it has a reported 2 billion members.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try again. More in the neighborhood of 1.2 billion and that includes 400,000,000 who have left, but their names are still on the books.

[Gregj]

03:21 PM on 02/27/2011

I was raised catholic. Grade school through high school. Two priests were later convicted In Milwaukee they did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys even though the boys for years confronted and told priests what was happening. t. I have met many faithful catholics whom follow yet refuse to read about the history of the catholic church. That is blind faith and if that is what you chose for yourself fine . But your ignorance is a choice. Read the odessa files ,read the history of sex- corruption chronyism then you can talk but until then you are pushing a reality that only exists in your own head and is actually encouraging the problem to go underground where you can feel comfort and faithful in your own ignorance. But Jesus teaches us how we are to treat children. And having sex with them and then hiding in a complicit church is not what he teaches. Nor are we told to ignore evil. So bury your head in your faith that has no basis in reality. I chose to bring Christ into the world May be if it were your child you would care to look a little deeper. My best friend committed suicide because unlike you he could not ignore that he was molested as a child. And I will not chose to ignore what is still happening.

[Indigo1941]

05:02 PM on 02/04/2011

Let me guess, it wasn't translated into American English, it was translated into Jersey Shoreese. Now we have yet another reason why the Mass should have been left in the dignified obscurity of the Latin.

[Woods-shade]

11:12 PM on 02/04/2011

The great thing about a Latin Mass is that if you went to any Catholic Mass, anywhere in the world, you could follow along.

[Marla Thurman]

01:12 AM on 02/05/2011

And understand little.

We put the mass in the vernacular for a reason. The ONLY reason they want it back is it has a "mystical" quality. Makes God seem more amazing.. as if God needs help. All the changes currently being made are only happening to set priests up above the people, as they once were, most likely to re-instill the fear that prevented folks from reporting sexual abuse for so many years.

[Indigo1941]

06:39 AM on 02/05/2011

Verum est.

[Carroll27]

11:54 PM on 02/04/2011

Actually, the new translation is somewhat of a return to the dignity of the Tridentine Mass, and the language more closely parallels actual bible verses.

[Marla Thurman]

01:14 AM on 02/05/2011

No, it doesn't. Latin isn't even a living language, it is stagnant and old and inaccessible. Just how the church wants to be.

[Indigo1941]

06:41 AM on 02/05/2011

That's good to know. O quam bonus est.

[SocBeat]

04:17 PM on 02/04/2011

Holy Mother of God! There are political games being played in the Catholic Church!

[limestonegoth]

05:06 PM on 02/04/2011

Say it ain't so!

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

04:14 PM on 02/04/2011

One of the few religious texts that wasn't translated incorrectly: It has served us well, this myth of Christ.

Widely attributed to Leo X, the earliest known source of this statement is actually a polemical work by the Protestant John Bale, the anti-Catholic Acta Romanorum Pontificum, which was first translated from Latin into English as The Pageant of the Popes in 1574: "For on a time when a cardinall Bembus did move a question out of the Gospell, the Pope gave him a very contemptuous answer saying: All ages can testifie enough how profitable that fable of Christe hath ben to us and our companie." The Pope in this case being Leo X.

- from wiki

[DD2005]

04:26 PM on 02/04/2011

You don't believe.....but you sure enjoy reading about religion. lol you have too much time on your hands.

[Ioan Lightoller]

04:08 PM on 02/05/2011

Oh yes, lovely quote and lays the whole scabrous mess wide open. I am spiritually inclined but wouldn't get within 100 feet of a Catholic Church. However there are faithful who still buy the fable...I guess they must need to.