Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie who had urged American Catholic Bishops to reject the latest translation of the Mass as it was ungrammatical and awkward to read lost his battle as the bishops voted 166-46 against his motion - Trautman had wanted the antiphons to be returned to bishops for approval. The new liturgical texts were approved by the prelates and would be implemented in 2010 in the U.S.
Bishop Trautman tried to prevent the vote on the new liturgical texts on the ground that handing them to the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican violated Church laws. He had argued that even the good intentions of Vatican dicastery did not give it the right to override the magisterial authority of an ecumenical council’s constitution. This was based on the “Sacrosanctum Concilium” – the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy which says that translations have to be approved by bishops of the territories in which they are intended to be used.
The President of USCCB, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said that permission had been given to Vatican officials after complaints from other English-speaking nations that U.S. bishops were taking too much time in approving the translation. Eventually Bishop Trautman’s proposal was submitted to vote and most of the bishops voted in favor of Cardinal George’s decision. Bishop Arthur Serratelli accepted that the text was not perfect but he hoped that perfection would come as the liturgy on Earth gave way to heaven and all saints started praising God in a united voice.
Similar Posts:
- US bishop critical of the literal English translation of Missal
- Do vote for Tomedes!
- Please Vote for Tomedes Blog – Top 100 Language Blogs for 2009
- Kuwait pushes Arabic for official status in WTO
- Wisconsin’s legal system’s translation complications
