Archbishop proposes ‘new missal for new mission’

Canberra's Coleridge says new English translation more faithful to the Latin

Canberra, Feb 1, 2007 / 10:36 am (CNA).- The liturgical renewal in the Church, which includes a revision of the English translation of the Latin Missal, will contribute to the missionary impulse of the Church, said Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge of Canberra, this week.

The archbishop wrote a letter to his diocese, published in the local “Catholic Voice,” telling the faithful about the changes that are coming to the English Mass and the spirit in which this liturgical reform is taking place.

“The whole point of liturgical reform at the Second Vatican Council was to generate new energy for mission,” he wrote. “And at a time when the Holy Spirit is calling the whole Church to become more missionary, my hope is that the new Missal will be one of the key sources of the new energy that new mission requires.”

“‘New Missal for new mission’ is not a bad motto for us all as we approach this new threshold in the ongoing journey of liturgical renewal in the Church,” he continued.

Archbishop Coleridge chairs the Vatican’s International Commission for the Preparation of an English Language Lectionary. He met with other bishops in Cape Town, South Africa, to work on the revision of the missal.

The revision, he said, is intended to ensure that the English is closer to the Latin original and that “it offers more of the riches of the Catholic tradition.”

“The language we use at Mass is a crucial factor in shaping our spiritual lives, our relationship with God in the Church, our mission in the world,” he wrote. “The bishops hope to provide in the new Missal words that are richer and deeper because they pass on to us more of the vast treasures of the Catholic faith through the ages.”

“We will have to learn new things, but it will be learning for a purpose. The bishops have no interest in disturbing priests and people just for the sake of it,” he added. “The liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council was always going to be a long and winding road, and this is a new phase of the unfolding journey. But this new phase, I am convinced, is no less under the influence of the Holy Spirit than was the first impulse that came to us from the Council decades ago.”

The archbishop said he plans to have both the Archdiocesan Assembly and the Clergy Assembly focus upon what that is involved in this new threshold of liturgical renewal in the Church.