Vatican: Psalm translation must be pulled.

In October 1999 Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, instructed the episcopal board of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) to revise its constitution (see CI, March 2000, "Vatican ices ICEL", pp. 28-29). More recently, in January 2000, the Vatican repudiated the 1994 ICEL translation of the Psalter, noting that the 1994 translation is "doctrinally flawed". The following article borrows extensively from the Adoremus Bulletin, Spring 2000.

The psalms are recited especially in the Liturgy of the Hours (said daily by priests and religious) but also enter into other liturgical rites, including the Mass and celebrations of the Sacraments.

Editor

Letter of January 14

A letter dated January 14, 2000, from the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) to the president of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy insists that the circulation of the ICEL Psalm texts, in print since 1995, be stopped. The Vatican letter to Bishop Maurice Taylor of Galloway, Scotland, head of the 11-member bishops' governing board of ICEL, was leaked to the National Catholic Reporter on April 3 (www.natcath.org).

The letter, signed by Archbishop Francesco Pio Tamburrino, secretary of the CDW, said, in part, that

"The most significant fact is that the text has been found after careful study by the Holy See to be doctrinally flawed. Such a text is clearly no more suited for private prayer than for public proclamation, and it is therefore a matter of the greatest importance to impede its further diffusion ".

Translation problems once again

In December 1993, Pope John Paul II cautioned a group of US bishops on the question of translation of liturgical texts, reminding them that liturgical prayer should be "free of ideological influence and doctrinal ambiguity" (AAS, 9 September 1994).

Other significant doctrinal problems arise from ICEL's "dynamic equivalency" approach to translation, which aims to convey the ideas of a text in what the translator judges to be contemporary idiom. By contrast, "functional equivalency" stresses fidelity to the words and meaning of the original text, thus diminishing "translator's bias" and ideological tampering with the text.

The controversy over translation principles surfaced again in the United States during the proposed massive revision of the Roman Missal and retranslations of Scripture and in Canada with the lectionaries of daily readings which were disapproved in 1994. [Readers will also remember that the initial use of inclusive language set back the translation of the Universal Catholic Catechism by almost two years.] In 1995, new norms to aid in translation of biblical texts were issued by the Vatican, and a complete revision of guidelines for liturgical translation in use since 1969 is expected at some date.

ICEL's revision of the Psalter, completed in 1993, had been approved by the US Bishops' Committee for the Review of Scripture Translations before being granted the conference's imprimatur in 1995 (given by then-president Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore). But the ICEL text was judged doctrinally defective and forbidden for liturgical use by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1996, and in 1998, under instructions from the Vatican, the text was withdrawn.

Problems continue

Yet the principal publisher of the texts has not withdrawn the books from circulation. Liturgy Training Publications (LTP), a subsidiary of the Archdiocese of Chicago's Office of Divine Worship, publishes the Psalter and its companion books, Psalms for Morning and Evening Prayer, and The Canticles. The latter includes 60 canticles (songs) from other parts of the Bible used in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Gabe Huck, longtime head of LTP, was editor of The Psalter and wrote its foreword. LTP continues to promote these books, and its Spring 2000 catalogue, four years after the Holy See judged the work doctrinally defective, calls The Psalter "the perfect prayer or study book. Ideal for anyone searching for a way to pray". So, while the translation is not to be used in liturgical books, it has found its way into popular prayer books.

And, acting contrary to Vatican instructions, three religious orders (Dominicans, Benedictines, and Sisters of Mercy) are using ICEL translations in their recently revised Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office.

Alluding to discussion of copyrights granted by ICEL to publishers, Archbishop Tamburrino's January 14 letter said, "It may or may not be the case that the issues of civil copyright license imposes...restrictions.... There remains, however, the question of a duty in conscience to ensure proper information not only on the juridical status of the text, but also on the fact that the text does not accurately represent the word of God and therefore risks being a danger to the faith".

The letter instructs Bishop Taylor to "set the necessary machinery in motion" to cease circulation of the texts, and to report plans to the Congregation.

Jumping the gun

Another note from Adoremus Bulletin, Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, Vol. VI, No. 21, April 2000:

A new book released in February 2000, Liturgy for the New Millennium: A Commentary on the Revised Sacramentary, is touted by The Liturgical Press of Collegeville, Minnesota as "serving the ongoing implementation of the liturgical vision of Vatican II-a vision that helps us to see God's Spirit in a living and dynamic tradition of people at worship."

The book, honouring Father Ansgar Chupungco, consists of essays on "the pending revision of the Sacramentary, the latest development in the ongoing liturgical renewal, an area of vital interest for those in ministry", says the current Liturgical Press catalogue. (The Sacramentary is the Missal on the altar from which the priest reads the texts of the Mass.)

Among the contributors are ICEL secretary John Page, who gives a history of revising the Sacramentary; Fr. Gilbert Ostdiek, OFM, member of the ICEL revision committee, "who gives an inside look at the fascinating but demanding field of liturgical translation"; Sr. Margaret Mary Kelleher, on composing the new prayers; and Gordon Lathrop, Lutheran editorial consultant for Worship, the liturgical journal also published by The Liturgical Press.

Nowhere is it mentioned in the publicity that ICEL's proposed "revised Sacramentary", at the Vatican for more than a year, is unlikely to be approved without very radical alterations by the Holy See. Maybe the publisher hopes no one will notice this until after they buy the book.

Note: See related articles in Ado remus Bulletin: Jul/Aug 97; Dec/Jan 98; Sept. 98; Feb. 00. Also see web site, www.adoremus.org.

Canada's revised Sacramentary

A Sacramentary (or altar Missal) revised by the Liturgical Office of the Canadian bishops is also awaiting approval in Rome. It contains numerous new prayers, endless rubrical instructions (five times lengthier than those of the Roman Missal) and an all-inclusive language which has banned male nouns and pronouns throughout ("We will obey God rather than man" becomes "We will obey God rather than human authority". "The God of our fathers" becomes "the God of our ancestors". Acts 5: 29-30, etc.). But, fortunately, its adoption by Rome is in question.

In a letter to America magazine, the Vatican's two top liturgy officials have taken issue with a March 4 America article by Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, PA. The letter appears to signal a new roadblock to. the revised Sacramentaries in English for use in the United States and Canada, which is awaiting final approval in Rome. The officials warn at one point that if too many original new texts are put into liturgical rites alongside the traditional ones, "the substantial unity of the Roman Rite is placed in jeopardy." The proposed American Sacramentary includes about 300 new original prayers and the Canadian Sacramentary at least that many.