Worshippers
at Spanish-language Masses
in U.S. won’t use new Roman missal yet
By Nancy Frazier O’Brien
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Although the third edition
of the Roman Missal will become standard at English-language Masses in
the United States beginning in Advent 2011, those participating in Spanish-language
Masses here will have to wait a little longer for a new translation.
While the Vatican has given its “recognitio,” or confirmation,
to the English translation that will be used in the United States, the
Mexican bishops’ conference is still awaiting approval of its translation
of the Latin text of the missal, said Father Richard Hilgartner, associate
director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat on Divine Worship.
Once the Mexican text receives approval, the U.S. bishops “plan
to take a good look” at it and might publish a Spanish-language
edition of the Roman Missal for the United States based on that translation,
although no final decision has been made, he said.
But the Mexican bishops are about two years behind the United States in
the translation and approval process, Father Hilgartner added.
Even after the new Spanish-language text comes into use, most Catholics
attending U.S. Masses in Spanish will not hear as many differences in
wording as English-speaking Catholics will. That’s because the Spanish
missal translations currently in use do not diverge as sharply from the
original Latin as some English translations did.
For example, Father Hilgartner said, English-speaking U.S. Catholics will
be learning a new response when the priest says at several points during
the Mass, “The Lord be with you.” Instead of the current response
of “And also with you,” the people will say, “And with
your spirit.” But the Spanish has always been “Y con tu espiritu,”
which translates to “And with your spirit.”
The new English translation of the Roman Missal “helps us to recognize
that the text of the liturgy is bigger than any one culture or any one
country,” the priest added. “The Church of this generation
may seem to have been separated by language, but we’re celebrating
the same liturgy in our own local languages.”
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