Vatican making final review of English liturgical translations

02-02-2010

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments is pulling together the final version of the English translation of the complete Roman Missal, the book of prayers used at Mass.

The Vox Clara Committee, an international group of bishops established to advise the congregation about the translation of the Roman Missal into English, met in Rome Jan. 26-29.

A statement released at the end of the meeting said members "reviewed various reports on the steps being taken for editing, coordination of manuscripts and reviews for internal consistency of the English-language translation" of the Roman Missal.

Marist Father Anthony Ward, an official of the congregation for worship, said that because bishops' conferences approved the Roman Missal in sections over a period of years, a final review and minor edits were needed to ensure consistency.

For instance, he said, the same Latin prayer may be used in two different Masses and may have been translated slightly differently during the bishops' approval process.

The Vox Clara statement said committee members reviewed the last two sections of the Roman Missal translation to be approved by bishops' conferences in English-speaking countries: The proper of saints, a collection of specific prayers related to each saint in the universal liturgical calendar; and the common of saints, general prayers for celebrating saints listed in the "Roman Martyrology," but not in the universal calendar.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20100201.htm