The forthcoming liturgical books.

In 1990, an American group of mostly Protestant biblical scholars--with some Catholic representation and one Jewish Old Testament scholar--published the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible. This translation set itself apart from previously published translations by its use of "inclusive" language, meaning the removal of all male nouns and pronouns and their replacement by a variety of general nouns. Man became mortal, whether the context was suitable or not. Fishermen became fishers, and even references to Christ such as "I saw one like a son of man" (Daniel 7:13, used in the lectionary for the feast of St. Michael on September 29), became, "I saw one like a human being," destroying its prophetic impact.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops had proceeded with the use of the NRSV for its two-volume lectionary of readings (a 3-year cycle) after receiving the approval of the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1992. By being the first in the English-speaking market, it foresaw a profitable business. However, in the spring of 1994, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) forbad the NRSV for use in the liturgy or catechetics. On July 27 of that year, the Congregation for Divine Worship rescinded its former approval, informing bishops' conferences of its decision accordingly. At first CCCB staff denied receiving the ruling but, when the letter was made public on October 25, 1994, by Catholic News Service, that stance could no longer be maintained.

In order to avoid confrontation and confusion, Rome granted Canada permission for the continued use of the NRSV translated version, with the understanding that the Canadian bishops would be working on revising passages to which the Vatican objected. As readers know, the temporary lectionary is still in use, twelve years after its first appearance.

In 1995, Sister Donna Kelly, c.n.d., assumed the position of Director, Canadian National Liturgical Office. At the time, the NRSV was hailed in the Catholic Register (July 1, 1995, p. 9) as "scholarly," adopted after "consultation", "in accordance with Canons 838 and 825," "most highly respected", "faithful to the original text," "the living God speaking in the proclaimed Scripture." All this after the Vatican had stated that the NRSV translation was not appropriate for liturgical use, and at a time when the Canadian bishops had not issued any corrections to the text.

That same year, Catholic Insight engaged Thaddeus Preuss of Surrey, B.C., a physicist and philosopher knowledgeable in Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, and Greek, to research and explain to its readers why the NRSV translation of scriptural readings was unacceptable to English-speaking Catholics. In a number of essays (Jan./Feb.; April; July/Aug.; Oct. 1995), Dr. Preuss demonstrated that the NRSV translation is not faithful to the original text. He compared hundreds of biblical passages in their original text with the English translation and also meticulously deconstructed English words to determine what the words really mean. These articles were forwarded to the CDF in Rome.

As an example, Dr. Preuss round that the word man is replaced in the NRSV text by 30 different terms, so that man only appears in specific reference to a male human being. He stated that the word humankind, a synonym for mankind or human race should not be used as a synonym for man. In Genesis 1:26 God said "Let us make man in our image", from the Hebrew word adam, meaning man. The NRSV has interpreted this scriptural passage as "Let us make humankind in our image." But the word humankind is a pure abstraction (the Oxford dictionary says, "human beings collectively"). God didn't create a collectivity of humans. He created an individual man whom the Bible calls Adam. As Dr. Preuss asks, "Does a single man constitute humankind?"

In another example already touched upon, the NRSV replaces man with mortal. Yet, etymologically, a mortal is simply anyone who is subject to death, which is only one attribute of man. Since we were all created to only be here on earth for a short time, before we attain immortality in the next world, the attribute mortal is inessential and temporary. In Job 20:4, "Do you not know this from olden time, since man was placed upon the earth...," the NRSV says that "mortals were placed upon the earth." We know that when man was originally created, he was immortal.

So where do we stand today, with translations and new books?

Ten years have passed

During the past ten years, a great deal of work has been carried out in the background, some of it not so pleasant. First, the Vatican had to do battle with ICEL, the International Committee for the English Language, whose translators and leading personnel were unwilling to accept criticisms of their work, leaving only one solution: replace them with a new team. Similarly, the supervisory bishops selected from various English-speaking countries have been replaced as well. In addition, the Congregation for Divine Worship has issued new guidelines for ICEL and, in 2001, issued detailed instructions entitled Liturgiam authenticam for the proper way of translating from the ancient languages (see C.I. issues in 2001 and 2002). LA is meant, in the first place, for the translations of the Collects and Prayers in the Roman Missal.

A reading of the following Liturgiam authenticam sections are illustrative of the general tenor of the document.

LA section 19 reads: "The words ... are not intended primarily to be a sort of mirror of the interior dispositions of the faithful; rather they express truths that transcend the limits of rime and space."

LA 20 reads: "While it is permissible to arrange the wording, the syntax, and the style in such a way as to prepare a flowing vernacular text suitable to the rhythm of popular prayer, the original text, insofar as possible, must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner, without omissions or additions in terms of their content, and without paraphrases or glosses. Any adaptation to the characteristics or the nature of the various vernacular languages is to be sober and discreet."

LA 47 reads: "The liturgical prayer not only is formed by the genius of a culture, but itself contributes to the development of that culture. Consequently it should cause no surprise that such language differs somewhat from ordinary speech."

Editio typica 

While these struggles were underway, the Latin editio typica of the Roman Missal was also subject to further editing, until finally the third such Latin edition was printed a year ago. It is from this third edition, including a revised GIRM--General Instruction of the Roman Missal, translated by an American team into English--that we will have a new Roman Missal in two years' rime, God willing. The Roman Missal is, of course, the book on the altar used by the priest to celebrate the Eucharist. Its name had been changed to Sacramentary but it will now be called Roman Missal once again. In principle, the English missal will be common to all English-speaking countries, perhaps with some local variations here and there.

The current president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is Archbishop Brendan O'Brien of St. John's, Newfoundland. Following a meeting in Rome with Vatican officials in 2003, he stated that the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments "has no objection to our using the New Revised Standard Version, but they want us to make revisions to keep the translation in harmony with Catholic tradition" (Dec. 3, 2003).

This, of course, is surprising. As Dr. Preuss has demonstrated, the Canadian lectionary, which went even beyond the NRSV with further changes made by Ottawa personnel, is shot through with erroneous translations and ideology. So the Canadian version of the English lectionary will have to undergo major changes before it becomes acceptable. Perhaps, here too, an international English lectionary might be preferable.

Cardinal Francis Arinze is the latest prefect of the Divine Worship Congregation. In October 2003 he directed ICEL to "proceed with urgency" on translating the latest Latin edition of the Roman missal, "placing this project ahead of any and all others." At the request of English-speaking bishops, ICEL has also been developing original texts in English, such as sets of alternative collect prayers said at the beginning of Sunday Masses, reflecting the three-year cycle of Scripture readings.

Janice Glover of Toronto, a former librarian, is a member of Catholic Insight's advisory board.