Irish priests ask bishops to postpone implementation of new liturgical texts
Feb. 04, 2011
Thomas C. Fox
"The Association of Catholic Priests of Ireland today asked the Irish Bishops to postpone the implementation of the new liturgical texts."
The following is the substance of their statement:
"The ACP understands that the Irish Conference of Bishops has decided that the new translation of the Missal will be introduced in Ireland on the First Sunday of Advent 2011. While a new and improved version of the current missal would be welcome, this new translation is not what is needed. The ACP urgently calls on the bishops to defer its introduction for five years. During that period the bishops, together with the people and priests, can properly examine the suitability of these texts for the Irish Church. The celebration of the Mass is central to our work as priests and, more importantly, to the lives of the people we serve."
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http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Three cheers for the Irish priests for challenging this underwhelming translation. Some biblical and liturgical scholars, priests and bishops have openly criticized these texts, but the Vatican doesn's seem to get it! Maybe, they should boycott or postpone this new Vatican translation until a more suitable English translation can be completed.
Meanwhile, Roman Catholic Women Priests use inclusive language in our liturgies. I cannot count the number of times people have shared their joy that women priests now preside at liturgy. In our liturgies at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, we invite the assembly to share their insights in a shared homily. Then, they gather around the altar and pray the Eucharistic Prayer.
In my new book, Living Gospel Equality Now- Loving in the Heart of God (amazon.com), I have included several liturgies with inclusive language for different seasons. The final liturgy is entitled: "Liturgy to Celebrate Justice, Partnership and Equality for Women in Church and Society." There may be some brave priests (like the Irish priests) and even bishops who would like to "try on" inclusive liturgical texts that express Gospel equality and inclusion now. Maybe, the Vatican will catch on one day.
I will never give up hope for the renewal and reform of our beloved church. There are many spiritual treasures in our Catholic tradition including our sacramental, mystical and social justice tradition. My faith is in my Irish DNA.
Bridget Mary Meehan RCWP
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/
7 comments:
Has it ever dawned upon you that the Vatican "gets it" just fine---maybe it is the PEOPLE who don't "get it."
Bridget Mary,
Thanks for the information here. Perhaps some day the Vatican will "get it" and not substitute stilted Latinesque English for a language that can be understood by the people.
David
Maybe the people do "get it" and maybe the Vatican is wrong.
Can someone please explain why we have to have convoluted Latinesque language -- language that is not even accurate and certainly does not flow easily from the native English speaking person's lips?
Rav,
I will agree with you that the translations are a bit choppy. If the mistake in the past was too much emphasis on "Dynamic Equivalent" in this case I can agree there is too much emphasis on "Formal Correspondence." As you know, these two poles in any translation are always in tension.
But Rav, I find it rather funny you complain about the new translations not flowing well, but I never heard you complain about the old ones NOT being faithful to the original Latin! That is after all, the problem the Church is trying to solve: comming up with translations more faithful to the Latin.
In any case your point is a Red Herring. My question was: Is it just slighly possible that the Vatican DOES get it? Have you ever considered the possibility that it is YOU who dosen't get it?
You folks NEVER want to answer the question: Why does the Vatican ALWAYS have to be in step with the world? Why dosen't the world EVER have to look at ITSELF and ask whether or not IT should be in step with the VATICAN? Why is it ALWAYS the Vatican that has to change?
Care you answer that RAV?
Are you suggesting that the world should all dress in European medieval clothing, forget about inventions such as the light bulb and the internet, and revert to alchemy and ancient medicine? Are you suggesting that the world must accept the Vatican's primitive understanding of sex and gender -- an understanding that has absolutely no basis in science? Or exactly what are you suggesting?
Rav,
Alright, the reason I used the pregnancy example is illustrate that just becasue men and women are eqaully human, it does not follow they can do the SAME things always. Men cannot by nature get pregnant. By nature, women do not beget life, but rather embody and nurture life.
Analogous to the spiritual life: women by nature cannot be priests, and therefore are not eligable to recieve Holy Orders.
Apologist --
Do you honestly believe that the egg and sperm are not equally involved in pregnancy? If that is what you think, your biological knowledge is in worse shape than I thought it was.
You need to rethink your definitions of begetting, nurturing, and embodying.
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