Pray Tell has kept you informed about the progress of the Roman Missal translation and its reception over the past year or more. New responses and initiatives continue to surface. Here are some recent ones:
FROM NEW ZEALAND
Rev. Bosco Peters offers a review of the New Zealand edition of the new Roman Missal, which was released late because of problems with the binding. Some issues of grammar and English style discussed in the review have been raised elsewhere, but some other material is brand new. For instance, the missal includes Maori but strangely only for some—not all—of the Eucharistic prayers. Why is Eucharistic Prayer I only in English, not Maori? He also notes layout problems and the awkwardness of many page turns.
Persevere through the comments and you’ll see some that raise new issues. Pray Tell reader Chase Becker, for example, observes that New Zealand received some permissions not given in the United States. Another commenter recommends using an i-Pad, which now has an app that allows you to have the whole Mass of the Day flow seamlessly.
Are i-Pads permitted at the altar in place of printed books?
FROM CANADA
The Catholic Network for Women’s Equality, an organization in Canada, has begun a protest to register their dissatisfaction with the new translation of the Roman Missal. They are seeking signatures for a petition to send to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in the spring of 2012. You can read their public statement, which ends with a petition to sign and circulate, here. You can also sign the petition on line at their website. (As of this writing, there are 98 signatures on line.)
FROM THE NETHERLANDS
An article by Bill Slavick at the Dutch website: rk-kerkplein.org kritische katholieken in het publieke debat, is available in English here. The article is entitled: “The Roman Missal: A Crisis?” His answer is, clearly, yes. How much public discussion of the translation project is happening in Europe at this time is not clear, so it is interesting to see this article appear. Slavick’s quoted sources are American. Peter Jeffery’s critique of Liturgiam Autheticam is cited most often, including this statement which summarizes the paradox Slavick sees at hand:
“The tradition is bursting with vitality,” he [Jeffery] observes, “LA is rigid with prohibitions.” “Why would anyone choose the thorns over the roses?” he asks.
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