Roman Missal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Roman Missal is the liturgical book

Liturgical books of the Roman Rite

The liturgical books of the Roman Rite are officially issued books that contain the words of the prayers to be recited and indicate the actions to be performed in the celebration of the Catholic liturgy as done in Rome....

that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

in the Roman Rite

Roman Rite

The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...

of the Catholic Church.

Situation before the Council of Trent

Before the high Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, several books were used at Mass: a Sacramentary

Sacramentary

The Sacramentary is a book of the Middle Ages containing the words spoken by the priest celebrating a Mass and other liturgies of the Church. The books were usually in fact written for bishops or other higher clegy such as abbots, and many lavishly decorated illuminated manuscript sacramentaries...

with the prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

s, one or more books for the Scriptural

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

readings, and one or more books for the antiphon

Antiphon

An antiphon in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work....

s and other chants. Gradually, manuscripts came into being that incorporated parts of more than one of these books, leading finally to versions that were complete in themselves. Such a book was referred to as a Missale Plenum ("Full Missal"). In 1223 Saint Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

instructed his friars to adopt the form that was in use at the Papal Court (Rule, chapter 3). They adapted this missal further to the needs of their largely itinerant apostolate. Pope Gregory IX

Pope Gregory IX

Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...

considered, but did not put into effect, the idea of extending this missal, as revised by the Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

s, to the whole Western Church; and in 1277 Pope Nicholas III

Pope Nicholas III

Pope Nicholas III , born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, Pope from November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a Roman nobleman who had served under eight Popes, been made cardinal-deacon of St...

ordered it to be accepted in all churches in the city of Rome. Its use spread throughout Europe, especially after the invention of the printing press; but the editors introduced variations of their own choosing, some of them substantial. Printing also favoured the spread of other liturgical texts of less certain orthodoxy. The Council of Trent

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...

recognized that an end must be put to the resulting confusion.

From the Council of Trent to the Second Vatican Council

Implementing the Council's decision, Pope Pius V

Pope Pius V

Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...

promulgated, in the Apostolic Constitution Quo Primum
Quo Primum
Quo Primum is the name of an Apostolic constitution in the form of a Papal bull issued by Pope St. Pius V on 14 July 1570...

on 14 July 1570, an edition of the Roman Missal that was to be in obligatory use throughout the Latin Church except where there was a traditional liturgical rite that could be proved to be of at least two centuries’ antiquity.

Some corrections to Pope Pius V's text proved necessary, and Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...

replaced it with a new typical edition of the Roman Missal on 7 July 1604. (In this context, the word "typical" means that the text is the one to which all other printings must conform.). A further revised typical edition was promulgated by Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...

on 2 September 1634.

Beginning in the late seventeenth century, France and neighbouring areas saw a flurry of independent missals published by bishops influenced by Jansenism

Jansenism

Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...

and Gallicanism

Gallicanism

Gallicanism is the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarchs' authority or the State's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the Pope's...

. This ended when Bishop Pierre-Louis Parisis of Langres and Abbot Guéranger

Abbot Guéranger

Dom Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger was a Benedictine priest, abbot of Solesmes Abbey and founder of the French Benedictine Congregation...

initiated in the nineteenth century a campaign to return to the Roman Missal. Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...

then took the opportunity to issue in 1884 a new typical edition that took account of all the changes introduced since the time of Pope Urban VIII. Pope Pius X

Pope Pius X

Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...

also undertook a revision of the Roman Missal, which was published and declared typical by his successor Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...

on 25 July 1920.
Though Pope Pius X's revision made few corrections, omissions and additions to the text of the prayers in the Roman Missal, there were major changes in the rubrics, changes which were not incorporated in the section entitled "Rubricae generales", but were instead printed as an additional section under the heading "Additiones et variationes in rubricis Missalis".

In contrast, the revision by Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

, though limited to the liturgy of only five days of the Church's year, was much bolder, requiring changes even to canon law

Canon law

Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

, which until then had prescribed that, with the exception of Midnight Mass for Christmas, Mass should not begin more than one hour before dawn or later than one hour after midday. In the part of the Missal thus thoroughly revised, he anticipated some of the changes affecting all days of the year after the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

. These novelties included the first official introduction of the vernacular

Vernacular

A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...

language into the liturgy for renewal of baptismal promises within the Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this service that people are baptized and that adult catechumens are received into...

celebration.

Pope Pius XII issued no new typical edition of the Roman Missal, but authorized printers to replace the earlier texts for Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....

, Holy Thursday, Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

and the Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil

with those that he began to introduce in 1951 and that he made universally obligatory in 1955. The Pope also removed from the Vigil of Pentecost the series of six Old Testament readings, with their accompanying Tracts and Collects, but these continued to be printed.

Acceding to the wishes of many of the bishops, Pope Pius XII judged it expedient also to reduce the rubrics of the missal to a simpler form, a simplification enacted by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of 23 March 1955. The changes this made in the General Roman Calendar are indicated in General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII

General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII

In 1955 Pope Pius XII made several changes to the General Roman Calendar of 1954, changes that remained in force only until 1960, when Pope John XXIII, on the basis of further recommendations of the commission that Pius XII had set up, decreed a further revision of the Roman Catholic calendar of...

.

In the following year, 1956, while preparatory studies were being conducted for a general liturgical reform, Pope Pius XII surveyed the opinions of the bishops on the liturgical improvement of the Roman breviary. After duly weighing the answers of the bishops, he judged that it was time to attack the problem of a general and systematic revision of the rubrics of the breviary and missal. This question he referred to the special committee of experts appointed to study the general liturgical reform.

His successor, Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...

, issued a new typical edition of the Roman Missal in 1962. This incorporated the revised Code of Rubrics

Code of Rubrics

The Code of Rubrics is a three-part liturgical document promulgated in 1960 under Pope John XXIII, which in the form of a legal code indicated the rules governing the celebration of the Roman Rite Mass and Divine Office....

which Pope Pius XII's commission had prepared, and which Pope John XXIIII had made obligatory with effect from 1 January 1961. In the Missal this Code of Rubrics replaced two of the documents in the 1920 edition; and the Pope's motu proprio Rubricarum instructum took the place of the superseded the Apostolic constitution

Apostolic constitution

An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...

Divino afflatu of Pope Pius X.

Other notable innovations were the omission of the adjective "perfidis" in the Good Friday Prayer for the Jews and the insertion of the name of Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....

into the Canon (or Eucharistic Prayer) of the Mass.

Revision of the Missal following the Second Vatican Council

In 1965 and 1967 some changes were officially introduced into the Roman-Rite liturgy of the Mass in the wake of decisions of the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

, but no new edition of the Roman Missal was produced to incorporate them. They were reflected in the provisional vernacular translations produced in various countries when the language of the people began to be used in addition to Latin. References sometimes met in an English-language context to "the 1965 Missal" concern these temporary vernacular productions, not the Roman Missal itself. Even countries that had the same language used different translations and varied in the amount of vernacular admitted.

A new edition of the Roman Missal implementing the Council's decisions was promulgated by Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

with the apostolic constitution

Apostolic constitution

Missale Romanum of 3 April 1969. The full text of the revised Missal was not published until the following year, and full vernacular translations appeared much later, but parts of the Missal in Latin were already available since 1964 in non definitive form and provisional translations appeared without delay.

In his apostolic constitution, Pope Paul made particular mention of the following significant changes that he had made in the Roman Missal:

To the single Canon of the previous edition (which, with minor alterations, was preserved as the "First Eucharistic Prayer or Roman Canon") he added three alternative Eucharistic Prayers, increasing also the number of prefaces.
The rites of the Order of Mass
Order of Mass
The Order of Mass , also called the Ordinary of the Mass, is the set of texts of the Roman Rite Mass that are generally invariable. This contrasts with the proper, which are items of the Mass that change with the feast or following the Liturgical Year...

(in Latin, Ordo Missae) - that is, the largely unvarying part of the liturgy - were "simplified, while due care is taken to preserve their substance". "Elements which, with the passage of time, came to be duplicated, or were added with but little advantage" were eliminated, especially in the rites for the presentation of the bread and wine, the breaking of the bread, and communion.
"'Other elements which have suffered injury through accidents of history are now to be restored to the earlier norm of the Holy Fathers' (Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 50), for example, the homily (see Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 52), the 'common prayer' or 'prayer of the faithful' (see Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 53), the penitential rite or act of reconciliation with God and the brothers, at the beginning of the Mass".
He greatly increased the proportion of the Bible read at Mass. Even before Pius XII reduced the proportion further, only 1% of the Old Testament and 16.5% of the New Testament was read at Mass. In Pope Paul's revision, 13.5% of the Old Testament and 71.5% of the New Testament are read. He was able to do this by having more readings at Mass and introducing a three-year cycle of readings on Sundays and a two-year cycle on weekdays.

In addition to these changes, the Pope noted that his revision considerably modified other sections of the Missal, such as the Proper of Seasons, the Proper of Saints, the Common of Saints, the Ritual Masses and the Votive Masses, adding: "In all of these changes, particular care has been taken with the prayers: not only has their number been increased, so that the new texts might better correspond to new needs, but also their text has been restored on the testimony of the most ancient evidences."

More recent changes

A new typical edition, the second with minor changes followed in 1975. In 2000, Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

approved yet another typical edition, which appeared in 2002, with the indication "Editio Typica Tertia" (Third Typical Edition). This edition added feasts, especially of recently canonized saints, it added more prefaces of the Eucharistic Prayers, it provided additional Masses and prayers for various needs and, and it revised and amplified the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

A reprint of that edition ("Editio Typica Tertia Emendata"), issued under Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

, corrected misprints and some other mistakes (such as the insertion at the beginning of the Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...

of "unum", as in the Nicene Creed

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...

). A supplement gives celebrations, such as that of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Pio of Pietrelcina

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina was a Capuchin priest from Italy who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He was born Francesco Forgione, and given the name Pio when he joined the Capuchins; he was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous for his ...

, added to the Roman Catholic calendar of saints

Roman Catholic calendar of saints

The General Roman Calendar indicates the days of the year to which are assigned the liturgical celebrations of saints and of the mysteries of the Lord that are to be observed wherever the Roman Rite is used...

after the initial printing of the 2002 typical edition.

Three alterations required personal approval by Pope Benedict XVI:

A change in the order in which a bishop celebrating Mass outside his own diocese mentions the local bishop and himself
Omission from the Latin Missal of the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children (which, for now, may continue to be included in vernacular Missals)
The addition of three alternatives to the standard dismissal at the end of Mass, Ite, missa est (Go forth, the Mass is ended):
- Ite ad Evangelium Domini annuntiandum (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord)
- Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum (Go in peace, glorifying the Lord with your life)
- Ite in pace (Go in peace)

Continued use of earlier editions

As was stated authoritatively by Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

in his motu proprio

Motu proprio

A motu proprio is a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him....

Summorum Pontificum
Summorum Pontificum
Summorum Pontificum is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued "motu proprio" . The document specified the rules, for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, for celebrating Mass according to the "Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962" , and for administering most of the sacraments in...

, the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal was never juridically abrogated and may be freely used by any priest of the Latin Rite when celebrating Mass without the people. The priest in charge of a church may grant permission for its use in parishes for stable groups attached to this earlier form of the Roman Rite

Roman Rite

, provided that the priest using it is "qualified to do so and not juridically impeded" (as for instance by suspension). The 1962 edition is that used habitually by priests of traditionalist fraternities such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a traditionalist Catholic Society of Apostolic Life of priests and seminarians in good standing with the Holy See.-Canonical status:...

and the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney

Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney

The Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney was established on 18 January 2002 by Pope John Paul II for traditionalist Catholic clergy and laity within the Diocese of Campos in Brazil. It is the only Personal Apostolic Administration in existence...

.

In addition, some priests in what has been called "a situation of separation" also celebrate Mass

Mass (liturgy)

publicly using editions of the Missale Romanum other than the latest. They include members of the Society of St. Pius X

Society of St. Pius X

The Society of Saint Pius X is an international Traditionalist Catholic organisation, founded in 1970 by the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre...

, who use the 1962 typical edition, and of the Society of St. Pius V

Society of St. Pius V

The Society of St. Pius V , abreviated SSPV, is a Traditionalist Catholic society of ordained priests formed in 1983 and based in Oyster Bay Cove, New York. The priests of SSPV broke away from the Society of St...

, who use an earlier edition. For information on the calendars included in earlier editions (a very small part of the full texts), see General Roman Calendar of 1962

General Roman Calendar of 1962

This article lists the feast days of the General Roman Calendar as it was in 1962, following the reforms that Pope John XXIII introduced with his motu proprio Rubricarum instructum of 23 July 1960...

, General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII

General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII

, General Roman Calendar as in 1954 and Tridentine Calendar

Tridentine Calendar

The Tridentine Calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope....

Official English translations

The International Commission on English in the Liturgy

International Commission on English in the Liturgy

The International Commission on English in the Liturgy is a commission set up by a number of episcopal conferences of English-speaking countries for the purpose of providing English translations of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the originals of which are in Latin.Decisions to adopt these...

quickly prepared an English translation of the 1970 Roman Missal, which was approved by the individual English-speaking episcopal conference

Episcopal Conference

In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...

s and, after being reviewed by the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

, was put into effect in each of their countries, beginning with the United States in 1973.

The authority for the episcopal conference

Episcopal Conference

In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...

s, with the consent of the Holy See, to decide on such translations was granted by the Second Vatican Council.

On 28 March 2001, the Holy See issued the Instruction Liturgiam authenticam, which included the requirement that, in translations of the liturgical texts from the official Latin originals, "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." In the following year, the third typical edition of the revised Roman Missal in Latin was released. These two texts made clear the need for a new official English translation of the Roman Missal, particularly because the previous one was at some points an adaptation rather than strictly a translation. An example is the rendering of the response "Et cum spiritu tuo" (literally, "And with your spirit") as "And also with you". Accordingly, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy prepared, less hurriedly than the first time, a new English translation of the Roman Missal, the completed form of which received the approval of the Holy See in April 2010. In most English-speaking countries, the national episcopal conference decided to put the new translation into use from the first Sunday of Advent (27 November) 2011.

As well as translating "Et cum spiritu tuo" as "And with your spirit", which some scholars suggest refers to the gift of the spirit the priest received at ordination, in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed "consubstantial with the Father" was used as a translation of "consubstantialem Patri", instead of "of one Being with the Father" (or, in the United States only, "one in Being with the Father"), and The phrase , former translated as "which will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven" was translated literally as "which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins" (see Pro multis

Pro multis

Pro multis is a Latin phrase that means "for many" or "for the many". Not having the definite article, Latin does not distinguish between these two meanings....

).

The new official translation of the entire Order of Mass is available on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...

, which also provides a comparison between the new text of the people's parts and that hitherto in use in the United States (where the version of the Nicene Creed is slightly different from that in other English-speaking countries).

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

remarked: "Many will find it hard to adjust to unfamiliar texts after nearly forty years of continuous use of the previous translation. The change will need to be introduced with due sensitivity, and the opportunity for catechesis that it presents will need to be firmly grasped. I pray that in this way any risk of confusion or bewilderment will be averted, and the change will serve instead as a springboard for a renewal and a deepening of Eucharistic devotion all over the English-speaking world."

The plan to introduce the new English translation of the missal was not without critics. Over 22,000 electronic signatures, some of them anonymous, were collected on a web petition to ask the Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope to reconsider the new translation. There has been much debate, for and against, on the subject, and even open dissent from some laity.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland) put into effect the changes in the people's parts of the revised English translation of the Order of Mass

Order of Mass

The Order of Mass , also called the Ordinary of the Mass, is the set of texts of the Roman Rite Mass that are generally invariable. This contrasts with the proper, which are items of the Mass that change with the feast or following the Liturgical Year...

from 28 November 2008, when the Missal as a whole was not yet available. Protests were voiced on grounds of content and because it meant that Southern Africa was thus out of line with other English-speaking countries. One bishop claimed that the English-speaking conferences should have withstood the Holy See's insistence on a more literal translation. However, when in February 2009 the Holy See declared that the change should have awaited completion of work on the Missal, the bishops conference appealed, with the result that those parishes that had adopted the new translation were directed to continue using it, while those that had not were told to await further instructions before doing so.

In view of the foreseen opposition to making changes, the various English-speaking episcopal conferences arranged catechesis on the Mass and the Missal, and made information available also on the Internet. Other initiatives included publication by the United States-based Catholic News Agency

Catholic News Agency

The Catholic News Agency is a provider of news related to Catholicism to an English speaking audience worldwide. It is headquartered in Denver, Colorado....

of a series of ten articles on the revised translation.

Situation before the Council of Trent

From the Council of Trent to the Second Vatican Council

Revision of the Missal following the Second Vatican Council

More recent changes

Continued use of earlier editions

Official English translations

See also

Further reading

Full texts of the Missale Romanum

New (2011) English translation

Partial texts