Proper of Seasons translation falls short of needed votes

Washington D.C., Jul 7, 2008 / 19:03 pm

Part of the new English translation of the prayers used by Catholics for celebrating the Mass failed to garner a two-thirds majority approval at the June general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Orlando.

The portion of the new translation of the Roman Missal that didn’t pass muster with a sufficient number of the bishops was the Proper of Seasons. The Proper of Seasons is the second of twelve sections of the full text of the Roman Missal. These prayers are currently being translated in a way that preserves the transcendent nature of the Latin prayers.

Prior to the bishops’ vote on the Propers, a “Gray Book” or second draft of the new Propers translation was prepared by the International Commission for English in the Liturgy and submitted to the bishops of English-speaking countries for approval.

Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, indicated that the Committee will present the Gray Book to the bishops for further consideration, in which time bishops may propose modifications to the text to be considered. The Committee will again present the text for a vote at the November 2008 meeting in Baltimore.

The Committee on Divine Worship reportedly plans to submit two additional “Gray Book” texts for the bishops to consider and vote upon in the fall. To keep pace with other English-speaking conferences and the original planned timeline, the texts must receive approval from the bishops.

According to the original timeline, the final text of the complete Roman Missal is scheduled to be presented for approval in November 2010.