New Missal Translation

The Association of Catholic Priests, representing about 400 of Ireland’s 4,500 priests has made an urgent plea to the country’s bishops to postpone the introduction of the new English translation of the Missal for at least another five years.

Representatives from the priests’ group said the proposed literal translations from Latin had produced texts that were “archaic, elitist and obscure and not in keeping with the natural rhythm, cadence and syntax of the English language”.

What? Do they think the Sacred Liturgy is a novel?

Fr Dermot Lane, president of Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin, said the priests want the bishops to begin consulting with priests, liturgical committees and lay people to develop new texts that would inspire and encourage the faithful.

These priests do not represent the laity. Is it not very presumptuous of the priests to decide for us lay people what will or will not inspire and encourage us? Such arrogance. They seem to think that the Irish people will not be able to 'understand' the new translation. We are mature adults, with mature faith, who love and are faithful to the Magisterium of the Church. To be quite honest I'd rather listen to the Pope and our bishops and embrace what they have proposed rather than rebellious, anti-hierarchical, sometimes heretical priests.

One priest, Fr Gerard Alwill, a priest in the Diocese of Kilmore, said:

“We are saying very clearly that this new translation of the Missal is not acceptable… We are deeply concerned that if these new texts are imposed, they could create chaos in our church. Our Church doesn’t need chaos at this time."

Fr PJ Madden said the association feared that the imposition by the Vatican of a revised prayer book containing arcane language would lead to

"chaos and confusion".

Is it not possible that the 1970 translation in use for the past forty years is seriously flawed and in fact has caused much confusion among the laity. There is much less ‘full and active participation’ in the Mass in Ireland now than there was 40 years ago. Perhaps the current English translation, ‘a new and improved version’ of which the ACP would welcome, is one of the reasons for this?

Surely the new English translation of the Roman Missal represents "a catechetical moment for the whole Church" in the country. I look forward to the moment when only the priest says "Through Him, with Him, in Him" and the congregation says with one voice "Amen"! I look forward to the moment when the congregation will kneel at the Consecration and at the appropriate parts of the Mass instead of the situation we have at the moment where the people either don't know or don't care. What have the Priests of the Priests' Association done in the last 30 years to address that? Nothing!

The liberals in the Church are scared and scare-mongering. Their drift from Holy Tradition to the point of protestantising the Catholic Church has finally been road blocked.

Deo gracias.
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Newspaper coverage:

Irish priests claim new Mass translation is ‘elitist and sexist’.

Priests fear Mass confusion as Vatican gets lost in translation.

"He took the cup."

Priests say missal is 'sexist and elitist'

Priests’ Association “gravely concerned” over new missal.

A list of Catholic Blogs with reference to the New Missal.

4thepriests

Dissident Irish priests try to create discord and resentment against the new translation.

The new priests' association

On September 15th next, in Portlaoise, a meeting of Catholic priests will take place to consider setting up an association of Irish priests. Some of these priests recently met in Athlone and discussed the possibility of encouraging a public voice for Catholic priests in Ireland. For a complete story on their agenda click HERE.
At first I thought it sounded like a good idea, and time will tell, but I was a little dismayed to see the people who are heading it up are all the 'Vatican II spirit' priests, who do not subscribe to the hermeneutics of continuity, but, more often than not, are part and parcel of the hermeneutics of rupture and discontinuity (as referred to by Pope Benedict in a recent communication). For more on the Pope and continuity see HERE

Maybe they will be part of the continuity, I don't know, but from what I've heard in the last number of years, they probably would be better off joining the Protestant community with which they seem to have a lot in common. Some of these priests already have a public voice through newspaper columns and weekly radio slots but it seems that the Holy Spirit cannot get near the programme line up because they cannot go beyond John O'Donohue and John Michael Talbot. John O'Donohue left the priesthood, was living with his partner until his sudden death in 2008. John Michael Talbot was a celibate monk, who got married in 1989.

Unfortunately John O'Donohue got bitten by the celtic spirituality bug and much of his work was on retrieving the earthiness of this same strange spirituality. If you check out google you'll find new-age, and neo-paganism under Celtic spirituality. There is no such thing as 'Christian, celtic spirituality'. There was pre-Christian spirituality, which was pagan, and part of Druidism and there is neo-paganism.

Some of the priests say that Pope John Paul II let them down. He led them to the top of the mountain but nothing happened! They forget that Jesus came down the mountain after the transfiguration, knowing that it was his death and resurrection that would bring about redemption. There can be no resurrection without death. You cannot take a helicopter ride to the top of the mountain and say you've climbed to the summit. There are no shortcuts to the Kingdom. We all have to take up our cross and follow Jesus if we want to be his followers. If not, then they should come clean, tell the world they have a 'wife' or a partner (male or female), do the decent thing, go to the nearest exit and join the communities who share their vision.

P.S. No offence to my Protestant brothers and sisters, it's just recognising the difference and allowing Catholics to be Catholics and Protestants to be Protestants or as Paddy Anglican said until very recently, Anglican!