Roman Missal Changes

Change is coming to the Roman Missal.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Catholic clergy and lay leaders from around the region will gather in Milwaukee Thursday for a two-day conference that will be, for some, their first in-depth look at the controversial changes ahead in the Catholic liturgy.

The Vatican is issuing its most significant and extensive revision of the Roman Missal - the prayers and texts used in Catholic worship - since the 1960s in an effort said to better reflect the original Latin texts.

But some see the changes, due to be implemented late next year, as unwieldy and unnecessary. And they fear they could further alienate the faithful at a time when the church is already struggling financially and failing to retain members.

"For some people this will be very unsettling," said Father Ken Smits, a Capuchin priest and liturgical scholar who is troubled by the move away from the vernacular to a more stilted, "sacralizing" language.

"The real concern is among the parish priests, who will have to explain something many of them are not in favor of," said Smits. "They'd much rather spend their time in ministry than have to go through this linguistic exercise."

...The Vatican approved the U.S. version of the Missal revision in March. An international petition drive asking English-speaking bishops to slow the implementation using a pilot program has drawn more than 21,000 signatures, including many from Wisconsin.

..."The fathers of Vatican II said overwhelmingly that we know how to adapt the prayers to our own needs," said Father David Cooper of St. Matthias Parish in Milwaukee and chairman of the Milwaukee Archdiocese Priest Alliance.

The new translation introduces more formal, rarefied language into the liturgy. But Cooper and others who have studied drafts say it ignores English grammar and syntax and introduces terms - "consubstantial," "oblation," "ignominy," to mention a few - unfamiliar to many American Catholics. And some worry it will sow division in the pews.

"You can call it whatever you like, but it's not English," said Cooper.

Wonderful.

This is just great.

I'll feel like a stranger at Mass. The prayers will be unfamiliar, the language stilted. Why do that?

I am among the minority of Catholics who goes to Mass every weekend. I didn't abandon the Church during these many difficult years of scandal. I found solace at Mass. Now, even the Mass will become uncomfortable.

Here are some examples of changes to the Roman Missal.

They're awkward and unnecessary.

I find this very disturbing. During all the upheaval and the pain of scandal, the Mass has remained constant. I don't want it to be foreign, particularly because the changes are so needless.

Sometimes change is good and for the better. This isn't.