Bishop Trautmann, Chairman of Committee on Liturgy Interviewed by Pittsburgh Paper

After 15 years of heated argument with the Vatican over how best to translate the Latin liturgy into English, the nation's Catholic bishops voted 173-29 to accept a new translation that hews more closely to Latin wording than the prayers now in use.

		Mass alterations Pre-communion prayer • Old: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." • New: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Response to 'The Lord be with you' • Old: "And also with you." • New: "And with your spirit."

"Without a doubt, this is the most significant liturgical action to come before this body for many years," said Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, chairman of the conference's Committee on Liturgy. However, he backed down from his previous fierce opposition to some of the changes.

"It will take some adapting, but it is not earth-shattering when you think of the changes we went through 40 years ago," he said, referring to the Second Vatican Council, which paved the way to translate the Latin Mass into living languages.

The most obvious difference for laity changes the pre-communion prayer from "Lord I am not worthy to receive you ..." to "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Also, after the priest says "The Lord be with you," the congregation will respond "And with your spirit" instead of "And also with you."

The text that passed was a compromise that amended some Rome-backed translations many bishops had objected to. The bishops rejected a proposal to change a phrase in the Nicene Creed from "one in being with the Father" to "consubstantial with the Father."

"I'm pleased that the text has been significantly amended. That made an important difference for me," said Bishop Trautman, who would have preferred to leave the pre-communion prayer and response to the priest as they are now.

[snip] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tip O' The Hat to Rocco from Whispers in the Loggia!